Day 3,962

Whew – that was a full Sunday! It started with some quiet time out in the woods with Becky, we went for a hike and enjoyed listening to the birds singing away atop the ridge. Is there any better start to a Sunday? Getting outside, spending time with Becky, taking in all the sights and sounds and scents of the outdoors?

We came back home, work on a couple of projects, and headed off to church. An old friend of ours was there and we spent time catching up with him. Throughout the ride home we talked, joked, and relaxed with Gavin. Many comments about how he is only a few weeks from moving out, and that this was likely the last mass he will be joining us for until Thanksgiving break, possibly Christmas. He spent time getting ready for shopping for meals for their upcoming backpacking trip, it was fun hearing him go through the entire process of figuring out exactly what was needed and which store they should go to for the best prices. Fun getting bonus time with him!

There was only a little adulting to get done so we knocked that out quickly. The project I’ve been working on has a large milestone coming up on Thursday night, super excited to get that all wrapped up! So many hours put towards that today, many new lessons learned, new skills being honed, and so much time getting lost in the flow of creating. One of my favorite types of project for sure! In so many ways it seems like I’ve been building towards this over the past twenty years, it feels incredibly rewarding to be getting closer to setting it free.

Becky and I had a great time catching up with Dominic! One more week of work, one more week of class, and then he’s off for a month of adventure! Catching up with him is always fun, even more so as he’s getting ready for travel. Looking forward to seeing him for a few minutes late on Thursday after he gets home and I return from my project.

More time working on the project, more pieces coming together. Now off to an early bed to start the week fresh!

Thanks!!!

Day 3,961

Today had one big goal, to hike Perrot State Park. Not just hike in the park. Hike the entire park. All the hiking trails. Even the little entry points that I had to do a quick out and back on. Fifteen and a half miles, almost 3,000 feet of elevation, & five hours later it was mission accomplished!

I did not realize just how much my soul was longing for a hike like this until I was into the groove. There were several deer on the trails with me, one little fawn bounced away as I turned the corner. In the picture below I’d spooked out a tom turkey who took off like a shot. So many birds, baby rabbits, and every type of bug (but no mosquitoes and ticks which was amazing!). The scent of the forest in the morning just about blew my face off at a primal level, it was so calming! Throw in all of the amazing views and it was an epic morning hike for sure!

While on the hike I had my open ear headphones on and had some quiet music mixing with the forest sounds. About an hour in I realized I had just about the right amount of time for something a little different. In what I can only define as “sublimely discordant” I listened to the entire audiobook of Fight Club by Chuck Palahniuk. The combination of the solo outdoor trek and the fantastically dark book were unlike anything I’d experienced before, but they fit together so well!

The entire hike was amazing, I’m pleasantly surprised with how well I felt throughout, and the retreat into nature was exactly what I had been dreaming of!

Thanks!!!

Day 3,960

More of a short version grab bag tonight as I’m headed off to bed to get a nice night of sleep before heading out for some early morning hiking tomorrow.

Had a very engaging day with my fellow Express owners for our regional meeting, always a pleasure to reconnect with peers and learn how they’re taking on different challenges. I walked away with many notes and even more ideas! Getting the opportunity to catch up with those I haven’t seen for a while is always delightful, kind of like a family reunion. Also having time to zoom out really helps to see our day to day operations so much more clearly. When we’re in the heat of the moment and facing urgency it’s so much easier go with the flow and the same old. Stepping out of it provides space to see the issues more clearly and choose a better solution.

I was also able to really beat down and make some serious headway on another project this evening. Getting into a flow state while working on a project I’m passionate about always feels great, the extreme dichotomy of going from zooming out to putting my head down was invigorating. A sweeter balance than I expected!

Thanks!!!

Day 3,959

Growth:

Acknowledge the times in which rest is needed. Pause, sleep, recharge. There is so much to do, so much to experience, sometimes sleep seems to get in the way. Running full speed can only hold on for so long, eventually we need to refill the tank. No regrets in doing so, no shame in doing so. Realize the strength needed to intentionally sleep and rest, accept it, and do it.

Appreciation:

Throughout the year I’ve been putting additional focus on spending time with Gavin as he’s off to college in only a few weeks. One of the additional benefits of it is that I’ve also been more intentional with spending time with Dominic and Becky as well as other friends and family – nice added bonuses!

Gavin road up to Winona with me today for work to knock out more landscaping at our office. That gave us some bonus time in the car on the way up and the way back. After I got back from a work event this evening I was able to sneak in a little bonus time with him shooting the bull and catching up the show he’s watching and the book I’m reading (that was recommended by him).

The days are flying by so quickly, we don’t have much more time before he moves out East, I’m very grateful for the moments we’re getting before he goes!

Presence:

Getting over nine hours of sleep on a weeknight was exactly what this guys needed! This morning I felt completely relaxed and recharged when I woke up, ready to take on the day and feeling like my batteries were full. Throughout the day this continued to make a huge positive impact. A full, deep night of sleep, such a gift!

Thanks!!!

Day 3,958

Growth:

Yes, AI can be an incredible tool for so many great things. Sometimes it can help make a multi hour project shrink into a quick 15 minute task, make an incredible job fair flyer within minutes, and share insanely insightful wisdom. I’ve been using it quite often to test ideas, clean up the grammar of an email, and helping me keep my focus pointed in the right direction.

Other times, AI can be totally awful! Today I was on that side of the equation as I kept trying to work through something that I thought would be easier only to find that I’d wasted way more time than I should have trying to get the project completed. I finally relented, did it myself, and made so much more progress so quickly.

Key takeaway today – pay attention to if the task will actually be done ore quickly or not. If it starts to struggle at the beginning, heed the warning signs and go back to doing it the old fashioned way.

Appreciation:

A quiet dinner at home, kicking back to read a book, relaxing on the couch for a few minutes. Enjoying catching up after work with the family, taking in some quiet time, no agenda. Now blogging, prepping for bed, and getting an extra long night of sleep. Cheers to the quiet nights of summer that don’t seem to happen often, but are very much enjoyed!

Presence:

Gotta love getting in a run after getting a vacation or two on the books, always fun conversation for the morning run! Spending time on our run talking about the fun parts of our trip we’re heading on in January is always welcomed, in this case it made the run all the more delightful!

Thanks!!!

Growth:

This oldie but a goodie came back to mind today:

Appreciation & Presence:

Spending time sneaking peeks at the little baby bird we rescued after it fell out of its nest has been amongst the highlights of my day!

Leia started barking at something outside on Sunday night and when we went outside we discovered a little furry baby songbird had fallen out of its nest. Thanks to some quick online searching we found that we could make a nest out of a small old food container, add holes in the bottom for drainage, fill it a ways up with dried grass, and then put it up in the tree secured to a branch. We gently put the little dude into the new nest, put him up in the tree, and then crossed our fingers. By the next afternoon we were able to see one of the parents flying up to feed it. As luck would have it we hung it in a spot in which we can clearly see into it from our bedroom window. Pretty awesome for sure!

Here we are 48 hours later and we’re able to watch him already growing, something I’ve never really paid attention to before. Not gonna lie, this might be one of my favorite birds ever 😉

Thanks!!!

Day 3,956

One of my goals this year was to go on eight micro-adventures shared with others. They could be long weekends, short weekends, long trips, or anything in between. The intent was that they were to be intentional, planned in advance, and shared with friends. In my mind they were to be largely outdoors focused, getting to combine sharing time with my favorite people in some of my favorite places.

To date I’ve had a couple. Another one has been in the books for quite some time. Yesterday saw two more get planned and finalized. There are another two in the works. Likely looking to add one more and there’s still another that will just barely fall into next year, but we’ll call it close enough.

What I’ve been most grateful for with this goal is the way it is forcing me to be intentional with my time. I can’t just hope for someone to be available to drive off for a weekend, we’re all busy. It takes some planning, some thinking ahead, and some focus.

True to the Rick Ridgeway quote from a couple of nights ago – the goal isn’t the summit, it’s the steps to get there. The dreaming big and sharing an idea with a friend. The looking at possible plans and getting them all set. There’s the pre-trip excitement chat back and forth as the trip gets closer. So many moments of joy before the adventure even happens!

Cheers to getting closer to the goal, but really enjoying the steps along the way so much!

Thanks!!!

Day 3,954

Starting the weekend with yoga and a chill night at home. Following it up with a morning hike. Knocking out a little adulting before playing some games in the afternoon. Make pizzas for the family and play some more games together at the kitchen table. Start to wind down, type my blog, read for a little bit, and then off for an early bedtime and a ton of sleep. Pretty much perfect!

Tomorrow morning wake up early, knock out a hike, a little adulting, do some greeting at church, and then hang out with the family until it’s time to hang it up for the night. Not a bad way to roll for the weekend!

We’ve had a lot of go go going over the past month, this weekend has been a very chill counterweight to the busyness. Starting it off with yoga was outstanding, it primed the relaxation wheels. The morning hike with all its fresh air got me up and moving. Having a very rough agenda without anything crazy on my plate has helped to keep the chill.

Cheers to a very chill weekend filled with bonus family time!

Thanks!!!

Day 3,953

One of my all time favorite books is Life Lived Wild by Rick Ridgeway. The book is his memoir of a life spent at the edge of the map, where adventure, friendship, loss, and conservation become inseparable. I was fortunate to find a used copy of his book online with an inscription he wrote about his signature:

That one sentence says it all, doesn’t it? We need to have a summit to shoot for, it is the start of the dream, the reason we start the journey. But it is so much more important to remember that the actual goal is to live the life that could lead towards the summit. We never know what may happen, what challenges we may face. If we spend the entire time thinking that it is only the summit that will bring joy we’re not only crushed if we don’t make it, but we’ve lost so much of our life looking fifteen miles and 5,000 feet ahead rather than savoring the exquisite wildflowers along the path, the time spent working towards the summit with our loved ones, the noble pursuit of working hard to be a better person than we were the day before.

If we choose the right summit each footstep we take should bring us joy (which, remember, is quite often not the same as comfort), each step forward an expression of living the life that could lead us to the summit, each step taken intentionally and in a deep state of presence.

Thanks!!!