Tuesday night. Pong night.

every Tuesday night since Brit invented it, the fellas in town get together for PONG.

i reckon the majority of my blogs are posted on Tuesday nights.

Last Tuesday, i was not sure when i was going to get a chance to ride my bike next. Turns out it was a whole week later. last night for an hour, and then today for a few.

certainly not enough…

i was in a funk all week. the weather was awful. typical Wyoming spring weather…which is the same as awful. it rained and snowed and rained and snowed everyday. and when there was a short respite from the precipitation, we were left with sloppy mud and gloom. i’m typically rather resilient, but i was losing my marbles.

Deep Woods was tied up with the wrap-up week and weekend for the GAP year. i was manning the wilderness alone for the second week and weekend in a row. Crit was under-the-weather for a few days until she was full blown crushed by a painful earache. she was inconsolable.

we missed out on the celebration dinner. Czas was the caterer. i ordered the salmon. it was the speck of light i hung on to all week. we picked out and laid out our costumes for the event. i was looking forward to sitting in the crowd and allowing all the successes and newly formed esteem to wash over us. instead, i stayed wrapped in misery at home desperate for the clock to strike 8.

the peeps were going to spend a few hours at Shank’s before the banquet while i rode my bike. when i alerted him to Crit’s terrible situation (and my lack of beers in the fridge), he tootled himself out the sloppy, bumpy road with a 6-pack of my favorite double IPAs. for a wee moment in the early evening, the sun peeked out for a quick minute. i bundled up and sat out on the side porch with Squawk and enjoyed the delicious beer. there he was again…Shank to the rescue!

a sicko kid meant no school on Monday. yet another day i hoped to be on my bike.

as soon as the peeps were tucked into bed, i went to the hot tub with a glass of wine. i sat with the sunset and leaked out some tears. an incredibly rare occurrence…

i was sad. sad that i lived so far away from anyone who could help me. sad that i couldn’t help Crit. sad that i wasn’t riding my bike. sad that it wasn’t going the way i hoped. sad that i felt so stuck. i tried not to allow the sadness turn into anger…but that emotion may have crept in too.

I was eagerly awaiting Deep Woods return for i was certain he would walk through the door with a plate of salmon, which was going to elevate my spirits….but he didn’t…he forgot it, although Czas did set one aside. sad – anger – whatever…let it go….

Be the Change.

I woke up Monday morning determined to shake the funk. DW didn’t have to leave for work until a bit after 8. i cinched up my sneakers, and headed out the door. the morning was frigid, but the sky was BLUE! i stomped up the hills without pause. it felt greater than great. i took time to breath. and look around. and remind myself of all the good. of our incredible fortune to be living in such a desolate and pristine place.

i returned home, busted out the chores, packed all the things we might need, and headed to town to break the cabin fever. Crit woke up like a new child. no fever. no earache. yee haw…but still no school….

we arrived at Shank’s first. attached the chariot to the mountain bike and mounted the “green seat”. i still have no photo evidence of this because i am ALWAYS alone. Squawk squished himself into the green seat and Crit opted for the open-air chariot. we rode from the old hood to town. first to the grocery store, then the post office, then the bank, then the park. we spent a long time in the sunshine at the park. when we were ready to roll back to Shank’s, Crit wanted to give the green seat a go. we had to take her sneakers off for her to fit…and her legs hung way over the edge, but she was happy…and so was i.

back in the hood the peeps took their 2-wheelers for a spin. all the way to Weaver’s and back, and then a couple laps in front of Shank’s house. We loaded up in the truck like a completely transformed family.

DW’s staff came out for dinner. and i rushed around a bit to prepare. when he got home at 5, he said “go for a ride, they’ll be here a little after 6”. and i did.

and dinner was great. we hung out on the side porch with DW’s new spotting scope and spotted a black bear and a few elk on the hill across from us (i would be reluctant to report the black bear, as it is “in season” if my 38 blog followers weren’t mostly related to me or from far away in the east coast). i was tired at the end of the day, but better.

this morning i rode up the Union Pass road. i shaved 15 minutes off my time from the base to the kiosk since the last time i rode…and my bike was fully loaded this time. i was pleased.

putting last week in the past. sayonara shitty week!

Hardscrabble is back at the helm. i’d love to type it’ll be smooth sailing from here, but Hardscrabble’s seas are always a bit rough…