Volunteer Dare

Volunteers are great people! If you volunteer for anything, thanks a bunch. Through my work recently we hosted a Shoreline Clean-up Day and were honored to have numerous people show up and volunteer their morning to clean up garbage along the local rivers. These folks braved cold water temperatures, whipping willow trees, disgusting smells, and my barbequed hot dogs, just to help make the local environment a bit cleaner. That is truly amazing and to those people I say thanks yet again.

I often volunteer, and I have to say I always get something out of it. I learn a lesson, I meet a new friend, I gain respect, I feel proud of my community and myself. If you don't believe me then you should try volunteering sometime and see what I mean. I am not kidding. I challenge you to get out there and volunteer 2hours a month (which is nothing by the way). Chose an activity that you do already and teach someone else about it, pick trash up along a road you always drive, cook a meal at a soup kitchen, heck even start a soup kitchen in your area...I double dare you.

My pic for this blog is self explanatory with fall in the air.

Into the next Season

Well fishing season I am sad to say is over here. I am very dissappointed with myself this year. You would think that as someone who has a job working on the river that I would be able to get out fishing all the time. Sadly that is not the case. I was only able to get out about six times this year for a good full day of fishing. How did my life get so hectic? I am sure we have all asked ourselves this question at one time or another. It can be a depressing realization sometimes when we see how focused we are on work and the ragged pace of making a living. The worst part of it all is, it is unavoidable if we want to truly live.

I am a father of an adventurous three year old boy and in order to provide for him and my family I have to live a hectic life style that does not allow me to do some of those things I once did as a teenager or early twenty-something. Do I miss those days? Not really. My life is hectic now because I know that in the future I will be able to slow down some and enjoy it. I take pride in my family and love them all dearly and thus I choose to live this way. I have made choices that will hopefully result in a wonderful life for my son and my family now and into the future. Every now and then I need to remind myself of that so that I don't have any regrets. If I forget, my wife will remind me...if she forgets, our son reminds us.

I hope you have something that directs you to a balanced life, no matter your age, marriage status, dreams, or job. Live with no regrets because tomorrow will bring a new season.

I bet you didn't think this is what this blog was gonna be about :)

The pic for this blog is the sea caves in St. Martin's, New Brunswick. This is a great place to spend a full day exploring the ocean floor one hour and watching the waves crash at your feet the next. Talk about a quick change in the seasons. It is a truly amazing locale, with friendly people, good eating, and lots to explore.

See you all in the woods or on the water.

Well the Atlantic International Balloon Fiesta is now come and gone and I have to say I feel for all those people who drove from hundreds of miles away to see the colorful bags of hot air take flight. The must have been sorely dissappointed when they realized that the balloons can only fly in good weather. Many of the balloonists themselves must have been frustrated as they too came from great distances to grace our area with their presence. It is really to bad that we can not guarantee good weather for the weekend, if we could the area would make much more money on the fesitve tradition.

Despite having the tail end of Hurricane Hanna belt us with over 100mm of rain on Saturday night and Sunday I think the Fiesta was still a success. Town was alive with people and shops were humming with the sound of cash registers and debit machines were empty due to the high volume of requested cash. Personally I had a blast Friday and I had to work. Friday morning we saw the balloons from our backyard and my son, in his bare feet and pj's, ran around in circles in the backyard exclaiming "I can see Mr. Peanuts hat daddy!" and asking "Can we watch the balloons tonight too?"

That evening we were priviliged to have some of the balloons take off right next to our house. My son was as high as the highest balloon and unfortunately my wife had to work. She booked Saturday and Sunday though so no worries??? We had a wonderful time Friday night, my son and I and some family that we visited later that night as the balloons flew over their house.

My wife was so dissappointed when the winds kept the balloons on the ground Saturday and Sunday. She wasted a weekend from work for nothing...but we did have fun Saturday as we spent the evening with friends and family who has all already agreed to get together and who needs balloons for a party? (Get it?)

Well I hope if you came to Town this weekend you enjoyed the Balloon Fiesta despite the limited supply of Balloons.

A bit of humble pie

I grew up being very competitive and was graced with a modest amount of athletic ability which allowed me to sometimes excel at some sports activities. I played hockey, baseball, soccer, volleyball, basketball, and golf at some stage in my life. I also was a bit of a daredevil on my old BMX bike, much to my Mother's dismay and worry. I was often late coming home for supper after wandering to far up a nearby brook in search of trout, and from time to time I just wandered to far into the hills in the evening to make it back before dark like I was supposed to. All this youthful adventure has shaped me to become what I am today, which I like to think is a upstanding, outdoor oriented, environmentally conscious citizen.

After saying all this I have to point out that this youthful adventure (and sometimes misadventure) has had its drawbacks. I still feel young when I am out there doing my thing but lately my body has been telling me that I am getting older. My bumps and bruises no longer heal in a couple of days but rather now take a couple of weeks. When I wipeout on my mountain bike now it takes me a couple of minutes to get back on as opposed to a couple of seconds. Lately this reality has really been hitting home as I have struggled to recover from a wrist I broke this winter.

Recently I went on a mtn. bike trip where after a pretty solid collision with the rocky ground I had to eat some humble pie. I broke the de-railer on the bike and hobbled back to the trail head on foot. I don't know which hurt worse my pride or my arm. Anyone who knows me, knows that I am a bit arrogant (the fact that I can state that here proves it) and therefore I had been confident about making this trip despite the fact I am relatively new to the sport. When I had to cut it very short, I was only about 3-4km into a 15km wilderness trail route, my pride took a kicking. But here is the funny thing. My body takes longer to heal now but my ego is just the opposite. Does that mean maybe, I am growing up?

My Mom would likely say "It's about time." But I don't know....I think I still have a few youthful adventures left in me before I settle into the endurance sports of triathalon and marathons. This may sound funny but seriously, alot of the things I've done in the past have been more rough and tumble than Tris and Maras and I think really training for the latter keep you in better shape maybe I'll make a lifestyle change. Oh to be older and wiser :)

Enjoy the new pics I've posted in honor of this weekends Balloon Fiesta in Sussex. I hope to see you in the woods.