Summer '09

Two weeks until the official start of summer. But, Summer09 has been cranking for over a month now. Mostly it's been a lot of cheap beer. A lot of beer pong (or, more lately, water pong). A lot of nights crawling into bed late, dirty, covered in dry sweat. (I never said it was going to be a clean summer) So, that's good. I mean, the drinking and sweating and getting dirty. Except the almost getting choked to death at Golden Gardens by a WSU winger. THAT sucked. But, the rest, great. I do hope to expand my repertoire though. I am stoked to be playing rugby again. I mean, it's all muscle memory, right? It's like coming back home. I like playing with a different team, new people, new ideas on how to do things, new ways of cheering each other on. I like that. And I am warming up to 7s, even though I think it's going to be a little tough to dismantle some of the habits by the end of the summer. I am interested to see what it looks like next weekend when we actually play a game. Should be interesting. But, yesterday, getting out on the hike, that was the best. Seriously. It was what has been missing. There's something too perfect about only thinking about your next step, your next handhold, keeping balance while you're scrambling up a small mountain. And having buddies and dogs out there (really one and the same...) rounds it out. Getting to the mossy top of that ridge was the best part of my day. The clouds hip-huggers on that mountain across the way, riding low like a basement ceiling, making it feel like we were higher than we really were. The dogs were so satisfied, just like us. I could have done that all day long. I want to hike every chance I get this summer. I could drink a whole lot less if it meant getting up early to get out on trails. I think my body would probably appreciate that. I want to hike with my dogs, and my sister, and my friends and my dad (although he gets annoyed when I get out of view so it means taking a lot of breaks). So, I have to figure out the next hike for sure.