This is way-old, but I remember it as one of my favorite “road” biking tours we did. Never made it to the blog, so here ’tis (a shadowy version clouded with time).
We flew into Paris without a real plan. A woman at the air-bnb we stayed at recommended following the Loire river, so we did that. (After taking a train out of Paris). These pictures are from that westerly movement, eventually to the Atlantic Ocean at the town of Saint-Nazaire. A few days of biking.
So much history along this river. I was blown away. Mostly separated biking paths (my memory at least). Easy camping. Good bread. I love France.
A photo dump of the start of spring break last year. The first few days had more rain than i’d ever experienced down there. Still beautiful. Still fun thanks to the people and the scenery.
2025 marks the 19th year of this place. Wild. I have lost some weight since these pictures and figured out how to get a haircut.
I have thought about that word a decent amount over the years. Its meaning was so obvious when I was younger.
Home seemed to be a bit of a theme with ol’ Thomas. One day I’ll actually read a damn book of his.
“You can’t go back home to your family, back home to your childhood, back home to romantic love, back home to a young man’s dreams of glory and fame, back home to exile…back home to the father you have lost and have been looking for, back home to someone who can help you, save you, ease the burden for you, back home to the old forms and systems of things which once seemed everlasting but which are changing all the time—back home to the escapes of Time and Memory.”
Counterpoint:
“There’s nowhere you can be that isn’t where you’re meant to be. It’s easy.”
Playing catch up. Building the brand. Holding onto memories.
These are from a trip to the Salt Lake area for Christmas last year.
Much shredding while Mom was hospitalized for heart issues. Very scary at the time but it was needed medical attention and a year later she’s doing great.
This is my first post about snowboarding since 2011. wtf.
`Once the realization is accepted that even between the closest human beings infinite distance continues to exist, a wonderful living side-by-side can grow up, if they succeed in loving the distance between them which makes it possible for each to see the other whole and against a wide sky.’
– Rainer Maria Rilke
After a year that involved moving back across the country to my old stomping ground of Missoula, Montana and starting a new job, things have quieted down a bit. Thought I would use the opportunity to update this thing, as the post about the Buddhist take on suffering is a bit blunt.
These pictures are all from last summer. After my friends the Parker’s came and visited me in Asheville and after I got rid of most of the stuff (and my precious plants) I had accumulated spending two years in a lovely house in my childhood neighborhood in north Asheville and before I packed whatever I could into a Honda Element and drove west with Mom, I visited my sister in Italy for a little over a week.
I flew into Rome and Rebecca made the epic surprise of meeting me outside the airport (I thought she was in a different town hundreds of miles away). This was my first time in Italy, but it sure as heck won’t be the last! (Unless I meet an untimely demise).
Was wonderful to see so many sights along with my sister. Many good times and here are a few.
More simply put, suffering exists; it has a cause; it has an end; and it has a cause to bring about its end. The notion of suffering is not intended to convey a negative world view, but rather, a pragmatic perspective that deals with the world as it is, and attempts to rectify it. The concept of pleasure is not denied, but acknowledged as fleeting. Pursuit of pleasure can only continue what is ultimately an unquenchable thirst. The same logic belies an understanding of happiness. In the end, only aging, sickness, and death are certain and unavoidable.
The Four Noble Truths are a contingency plan for dealing with the suffering humanity faces — suffering of a physical kind, or of a mental nature.
Hiking near Livingston Montana on July 20th, 2020. Thanks for the hiking inspo and being such a good friend Al. These chronicle the first part, the hiking to Pine Creek Lake. From there it was off the beaten path to the summit.
A week by the ocean with Mom back in early October. I remember being concerned by going to the beach I was going to miss out on my first fall in the east in a long time. That wasn’t an issue.
