The Dipsea Race was Sunday; it was the 100th anniversary of this 7½ mile cross-country race from Mill Valley over a flank of Mount Tamalpais to Stinson Beach. A month ago I was running well, but a trio of little injuries and a week in NYC took its toll. I was really slow going uphill, but still have the timing to go fast downhill. Which I did, and the next day I was on crutches from I believe some torn knee ligament fibers. Ah me. But it’s healing as I speak. It was a wonderful race and I’m gonna do better next year. Plus we have a newly-constituted running group, the Pelican Inn Track Club, that has recently been infused with a bunch of blazingly fast young runners, and we are stylin. Last night there were maybe 30 of us the pub after running and the vibes were vibrant.
- Tonight we had fresh halibut courtesy of our friend Billy, kale from the garden, and Lundberg Brothers organic brown rice. Plus local Lagunitas Brewery IPA Pale Ale. Our bantam chickens are laying so we have a good supply of fresh eggs.
- There are two quail families running around in our garden with minute baby qualekins. They are about 2″ long, maybe 6 in each family. The male with his majestic plume stands guard while the mama clucks and shuffles the babies through the brush. They’re a delight to watch.
- I just got a new iPad with 3G connectivity, which means I can get online anywhere there’s a cell phone signal. Hoo boy. To tell you the truth, there are times when I wish for simpler times. I LOVE all the things I can do with my (13″) MacBook Pro, iPhone, and iPad — not to mention the big Mac Pro I use in the office. Then there’s my Panasonic Lumix DMC-G1, my Canon Powershot S-90, my GoPro Helmet Hero,and my new Sony Cyber-shot panorama camera. I extol these things to my old friends, the wonderful things I can do, how I can find just about anything via Google, how I can communicate world-wide instantly, etc. But sometimes I feel like I’m barely keeping my head above water. It’d be fine if everything worked smoothly, but Rick is continually bailing me out of self-created and other types of problems. Well, there’s no going back and I’m gonna ride the wave. E-books here we come.
- There’s a 2-mile paddle race in town here this Saturday. I’m going to do it although I haven’t trained at all. Surfers, swimmers, water people, I love these guys. I’ll see some of my ex-lifeguard friends (Stinson Beach, 1960). Surfers, skaters, kayakers, people who love the beaches and woods and natural forces, kindred spirits.
- Today my friend Michael McNamara, one of the builders in Builders of the Pacific Coast, sent me photos of the van that Lloyd House just built, and lives in (on an island in British Columbia). Lloyd is the numero uno builder in the same book, my favorite builder of all time, and this van made me smile, it was so elegant and tuned-in. It made me reflect on people that make you smile, positive forces in our lives. Can you think of people like that in your life, people who make you feel good? They’re real. They’re genuine. Qualities that we’re seeking these days. Their energy (chi) is alive and vital, they have auras that project hope and humor and happiness.
- The hills are rapidly turning golden from green in this warm weather.
Hi Lloyd
Great post, you have been inspiring me for the last 12 months,with your books and your blog.
Other people who inspire me are Laird Hamilton and my wife Sandra.(sorry for being cheesy)and anyone who looks at life in a different way.
Morning, Lloyd! What i like to do once in a while is take a minivacation from it all. For a day,(not neccesarily 24 hrs, but the time I'm off and my husband's at work)I turn off everything, even the the lights, and read and write and do some housework in the stillness of it all. The natural light (bright or dim, like this rainy day) sweeps around me gently as the day goes by, and it calms me, refreshes me. The sounds that come have a different rhythm. I can feel myself inside it all differently, and then I'm ready to jump back in. I started doing this after I remembered what it was like in the 50's as a child, seeing everything, feeling the sunshine . . .
Omo,
Thanks for the comment. I agree. Actually, :Lesley stepped into the office just now and pointed out that although I have this melange of electronic gadgetry in here, all I have to do is step outside the door where there's a thriving garden, and a bunch of baby quail running around. Plus I get out into the woods or on the beach almost every day as antidotes to the sedentary nature of computer work. With all the dazzle and efficacy of the digital world, it's good (a necessity!) to keep in touch with our bodies and the natural rhythms of the planet.
It would be wonderful to see what lloyd House did with his van. loved his sense of design in the profile of him in the last book.
Yeah, lets see the van!