Long Time, No Write

Let's see...my son's four day solo hiking trip in NW
PA on the Loyalsock Trail became an over night.
He'd planned this hike for Easter break during the long
dark winter months and had spent hours meticulously
getting all his gear in order..
Originally he was to have the company of a handful of
his friends, but they all had one excuse or the other
when it came time to really go.
So he went by himself, full of a sense of adventure.
That first night when he set up camp, he was over come
with a crushing sense of aloneness.
Not lonely, but soul searing "alone".
On the drive home the next afternoon, (I drove 3 hours
from work to pick him up), he told me that he'd wept
like a baby that 1st night.
He'd never realized how much the "noise" of his everyday
life keeps him contained and when he was there in the woods,
under the light of a solstice full moon, miles from another
human, he said it was like standing on the shoreline of an
incomprehensible ocean...
Who was he without the "stuff" of his everyday world??
What an experience...
I'd think he received far more than he ever expected from
that hike.


Skating is going well. I'm learning new skills and if I make
them a habit, they'll have a positive impact on lowering my
lap times.

Took the Ninja out yesterday!!
Woo! Hoo!
She started right up and I had a blast riding around town.
Can't wait for warmer temps so I can have her out all the time :)