Wednesday, March 16, 2011

Tumbleweed

Most tumbleweeds have the fortunate experience of gently blowing down the road with the ability to see what is coming even if the breeze is going to ultimately thrust them in to it. My life as a tumbleweed is a bit different, while I do get the feeling that there is some breeze guiding me and putting me on and off varying wind patterns, my breeze seems to be more of a gale force wind lately. The difference between me and the other tumbleweeds is that they know their fate before they lightly bump into an object, for me it's a smash into a brick wall with the confused look of "I never saw that coming." This isn't necessarily a bad thing, sure there are times when I crash into a brick wall of debt or collide with the steel tragedy of loss of a loved one, and the constant beating of the solid stress concrete. There is another side to being a tumbleweed in hurricane that most people don't think about, The Adventure. Speeding past the rolling hills of my outdoor adventure lifestyle from a full day of snowboarding followed by an evening of paragliding. There are the family Sundays spent teaching my son how to ski, watching Jessie gain confidence, and a cheers to the bar tender at Molly Greens. There is the snowboard competition season that brings quaint ski town travel adventures and new friendships. The mornings spent at the south side para-waiting for the right time to launch. The laughter of my greatest friends coming to visit for corn beef and cabbage. Each side of me is a different rotation down the hill.

I am a father.
I am a son.
I am a brother.
I am a friend.
I am an uncle.
I am a cousin.
I am a snowboarder.
I am a paraglider.
I am a full time student.
I am an entrepreneur.
I am a competitor.
I am a debtor.
I am a collector.
I am a dreamer.
I am a lover.
I am a fighter.

I am...

These are things that make up my shell. These are the things that allow me to tumble down long roads and smash into everything in site and keep on going. These things are my motor. No matter how fast I roll, no matter how much I spin, no matter how hard I hit, I will never feel dizzy, or pain. I will never feel tired and I will never give up the journey...

Because I am.

=Dave