Life is one crazy ride...

I am heading back to Nashville tomorrow and a wave of emotion awaits... I am coming home sooner than expected to see my Dad tomorrow. He like my brother and I has had several "accidents" as we shall call them since I have known him. Well, before I break the news let me say he is ok and recovering well. Wednesday night my dad was downtown at riverfront park in Nashville. As he was looking up at blooming trees he took a step back expecting to find a guard rail behind him and instead fell about 8 feet to ground landing on his neck and breaking it. I think it was his T-1 that broke but after 2 hours of surgery and a few pins in his neck yesterday the report is in and he is all good. He will be out of the hospital tonight and heading home with out even a brace on his neck. Medical science sure has come along way. Break your neck and two days later you're back out there. The Doc's said he should be back to full swing in 6-8 weeks and that he should take it easy until then. He is a pretty tough dude to say the least. He actually waited twenty four hours before even going to the hospital and was trying to play it off like everything was ok and was treating a broken neck with motrin. It wasn't till his better half talked him into a visit to the ER that he realized it was a little more serious than he thought. Get well soon dad, you rock...

Tomorrow is also a big day for me as I will be officially single. Wow, never thought it would happen and I would be typing these words but as I have learned people change in life and sometimes it's better to let them go then hold them back from what they want or need. I haven't changed a lot over the past few years. I'm still all about the bikes, boards and avoiding the bummer life, I think this a good thing but not everyone would agree with me. Don't know if there is much hope for me unless there are women out there looking a guy that can show them a good time, bring home good coin now and then and doesn't get lonely while I am out riding the trails, personally I think there are probably a number of them that would be cool with that or even better get out on the trails with me. Lot's of exciting times await but it is sad when things don't work out.

The week ahead will truly be a yen and yang type of week. The two emotional downers will hopefully be balanced with smiles on the faces of friends that I have not seen in two months or more. Good times to be had on Tuesday of course at the Raconteurs show. Thursday I will be back on the road and heading south to hook up with Pillsbury and sneak into the woods for some quiet time in Ducktown before the crew shows up for the party on Friday night at the Sourmash Lodge. A 65 mile mtn bike race an Saturday should exemplify the fact that life is both a pleasurable and painful experience if you are really living it. Much like a bike race, in life the pain we feel is only temporary and to use the analogy of an endurance race there is hopefully a cold beer and friends waiting for you at the finish line. Can't know pleasure unless you know pain. Maybe one day I will be enlightened and escape the whole cycle but for now I will just hang on and ride it out.

All the best people. I leave you with this...

1. Don't wish for perfect health. In perfect health, there is greed and wanting. So an ancient said, " Make good medicine from the suffering of sickness."

2. Don't hope for life without problems. An easy life results in a judgmental and lazy ind. So an ancient once said, "Accept the anxieties and difficulties of this life".

3. Don't expect your practice to be clear of obstacles. Without hindrances the mind that seeks enlightenment may be burnt out. So an ancient once said, "Attain deliverance in disturbances".

Zen Master Kyong Ho [ 1849-1912], in Thousand Peaks

Jut