A Fall Drive

I should have been a trucker.

Forget the fact that I can't even back a trailer out of a driveway. I just like driving. It relaxes me. Putting miles behind me feels like progress even if I'm not going anywhere.

This Sunday, with a lot on my mind and no plans I just got in the car and started driving Colorado's back roads. I didn't plan on a 300 mile, 8 hour trip but thats what happened.

As you can see from the pictures below, I picked an excellent weekend to do it. I've said this before but I'll say it again. I live in a BEAUTIFUL part of this planet.

For Noah on his 18th Birthday

Noah,

There is so much I want to tell you on your 18th birthday. The law says that legally you are a man now and honestly...that sends me into a panic because I feel like there is so much that I've neglected to say or teach you. Life is sooo fast. I swear you were just born last Sunday. On Tuesday you were climbing on to the roof when we weren't looking. And just yesterday it seems you were asking me to help you build a jet pack in the garage. It happened too fast and I'm not ready for you to be 18! I think that most advice a parent gives an 18 year old is swiftly forgotten. But maybe if I write it down, you can keep it and read it again occasionally and one day you might find some wisdom in it.

Noah, you have so much potential. Please don't settle for average. Please don't settle for what is easy or safe. The world can be scary. Life isn't fair. But I'm going to tell you a secret. We are all pretending. It's true. We are all scared. We are just guessing at the answers and nobody is as cool or confident as you think they are. We all wear masks when we go out in the world, Noah.

Smile. You don't do it often enough but you light up the room when you do. One day a girl is going to fall in love with you because of that smile.

Remember...Look people in the eye and give a firm handshake. I can't explain it but trust me. (it's a guy thing)

Make friends with all types of people and keep your eyes and mind open to everyone. Sometimes, the coolest friends are hiding in the oddest people.

Don't be afraid of strong women. If you find one that falls in love with your smile...make sure she is your equal and marry her.

Dance. I don't dance but I regret it. You'll always be popular with the ladies if you aren't afraid to dance. You don't even have to be good! Just don't be afraid!

Be proud of who you are. You are part of me - you are part of Mom. You are part of your grandparents. You are part of a thousand people who were born and lived and loved and died and passed a part of themselves on to create something incredible...you. Remember that and pass it on.

Trash talking is over rated. Be humble, be gracious.

You are the only person on this planet who has sole custody of your life. Your particular life. Your entire life. Not just your life at school, or work, or the life in your mind. You are in charge of the life of your heart...your soul. I know that you tend to dismiss anything that can't be proven with science Noah, but it's your soul that truly defines who you are. It's your soul that will give you comfort when you're sad, or scared, or lonely. There really is something in the universe that is bigger than we are. Please be receptive and open to it when it comes to you.

Enjoy the power and beauty of your youth. You will not understand this until years from now - but try. Enjoy your body. Use it every way you can. Love it. Take care of it. It's the best thing you'll ever own.

Care about people. Really work at it if you have to. Don't dismiss their interests, music, religion, games or friends. It's a small world when you only put your happiness at the top.

Remember the compliments. Forget the insults.

Get to know your parents. You never know when they'll be gone for good. Hug your father. Men should never be ashamed to show love. Hug your mother. She's the first woman that ever loved you. Understand that they are human and try to forgive their mistakes. Be nice to your brother and sister (even when it's hard!). Visit them and talk about the times when you were kids. They're your best link to the past and the people that will most likely stick with you in the future.

Do what makes you happy. Be yourself. It's OK to follow the beat of a different drummer as long as you remain a part of the world. Don't give up too easily, Noah. Be willing to invest the time to achieve your goals. Be honest. Talk is cheap. If you say you are going to do something - do it. Living your life with integrity and honesty is the only way to live. People will respect you for it but more importantly, you'll respect yourself. Always do your best.

I believe in you , Noah. Believe in yourself.

I love you,
Dad

Healthcare

I stopped blogging about political issues once the election was over and my guy won. I thought "we're in good hands now and the president doesn't need my help." But since everyone of us has a stake in the healthcare debates now raging across the country I'm feeling the urge to step in with my undervalued opinion. I recently started worrying about it more than I have in the past because of some deep layoffs in my company and the realization that could lose my job and my health benefits. I also have an adult daughter now who will come off my policy as soon as she stops attending college. The thought of myself being uninsured worries me, the thought of my kid being uninsured sends me into a panic!

I'm in awe - a sickening sort of awe - as I watch protestors across the nation screaming against socialized health care. Does anybody see the irony of senior citizens on medicaid yelling at congressmen that they are against socialized medicine? Did you see the sign held up by the woman that said "Keep Your Government Hands Off My Medicare"? Does anybody shake their head in disbelief as Republican Senators with their gold plated government healthcare condemn any plans to give that same care to the rest of us?

That's right. Our politicians enjoy taxpayer-funded healthcare. All of the senators and representatives in Washington enjoy health benefits that are fully paid by you and me. I don’t see any of America’s politicians opting out of their taxpayer-funded plans in favor of the supposedly superior private health plans, do you? They have the luxury of coverage at taxpayer expense, while we taxpayers have to worry about where or whether we will even get coverage, much less coverage that we can afford.

A main argument from the right is that they don't want government bureaucrats making healthcare decisons for them. But our current private system has insurance company bureaucrats deciding which medical procedures they will cover and which they will not. They also decide whether or not they will cover you at all and how much you must pay them for your coverage. Insurance companies dictate to doctors what care you are allowed, compromising what would otherwise be the best medical practices in the world. The biggest difference between the government and the insurance bureaucrats is that insurance companies actually have an incentive to give you less care because they will make more money by denying claims and treatments.

Many claim that America has the best healthcare system in the world. Sadly, that is just not true. We only have the most expensive system in the world. Are we getting our money’s worth?

Choose any type of health measurement and compare America against any other industrialized nation. The comparison is not good. Life expectancy in the U.S. ranks 24th in the world. Life expectancy in the U.S. ties with Slovenia. We rank 29th in the world for infant mortality. Even Cuba ranks ahead of us. We fare poorly in several other rankings as well, including overall cost, access, and health outcomes. It turns out that America has, at best, the 24th best healthcare system in the world. Want to know what the top 23 countries are doing? They all have universal healthcare.

A generation ago, working for only one company over the course of your career was the norm. Today, the average worker will work for six different companies. Additionally, more workers than ever before are self-employed or run small businesses. Employer-sponsored healthcare no longer makes any sense. Many of my conservative friends and relatives have the traditional family where mom stays home with the kids and dad goes to work and gets the employer based health policy. Well if dad leaves or dies, mom cannot continue to stay at home and care for the children as before. She must, in a time of crisis, look for a (full-time) job with healthcare benefits. Countless Americans remain in their jobs when they would rather stay home to care for their children, simply because they have to in order to continue their medical insurance coverage. That is not exactly “family values.”

Forty-seven million Americans are now uninsured and that number is growing as job losses continue. Uninsured people still get sick. They still visit the doctor or, worse, the emergency room, which is 10 times the cost. Who pays? Those of us with insurance. I went to the podiatrist last month for some foot pain. The total bill for an xray, 20 minutes of the doctors time and some shoe inserts cost $850. It doesn't take a genius to see that there is a lot more rolled into that bill than the care I received. You and I are ALREADY paying for the uninsured every time we pay a premium; we pay again every time our premiums go up. And our premiums will continue to go up. The price of insurance premiums is rising much faster than wages, and there is no end in sight.

In America, we believe that we all deserve equal protection from crime and fire. The police and the firemen should respond to you just as fast as they respond to Donald Trump, right? We believe that the poor have the same right to clean water and safe roads as the rich. We even pass laws guaranteeing that everyone have affordable access to cable TV! But in this the greatest nation on earth, a country as well off, as caring, as Christian, as the United States of America, it is unacceptable that our politicians would say that we can have equal rights in so many things but if I want the same coverage as them, then I'm a socialist.

There! I got that off my chest. Let me know if anything I said changed your opinion on the subject!

New York

Me and Samantha spent 3 days in NYC last week. We crammed as much as we could into the time we were there and the highlight of the trip was spending quality time with my 19 year old daughter. Here are some other the highlights.

...had a cabbie that rolled down his window to yell at people...saw Paul McCartney sing on top of the Ed Sullivan theater...Ellis Island...Apollo Theater...bought a hot dog from a street vendor...saw homeless building forts in doorways at night...Museum of Natural History...Times Square...Stautue of Liberty...Ground Zero...Century 21...followed the crowd through intersections against the light...Wicked...top of the Empire State Building...subways...patio cafe's...Chinatown...Dakota...Central Park...Mama Mia...Brooklyn Bridge..bought a purse from a street vendor...Metropolitan Museum of Art...Grants Tomb...Columbia University...Carnegie Hall...United Nations...Wall Street...

New York is incredible. We enjoyed it all and would like to go back. When you travel you can't help but compare where you are to where you are from. You compare the people, the prices, the weather, the culture, the entertainment, etc.

We both received an additional bonus from this trip by realizing that Colorado is an INCREDIBLE place to live. It's good to be home. (but we can't wait to go again!)

Trudging to the Top

I climbed another of Colorado's 14ers yesterday. My 15th. Only 39 left! Actually "climbed" sounds too athletic. Hiked and walked don't quite fit either. Cantered or pranced? Too ambitious. Ambled, strolled, or meandered? Too casual. Lumbered or marched? Too confident. Wandered and roamed are too aimless. Plodded or slogged? Close. Trudged? Trudged...that's it.

Yesterday I trudged up another mountain. Missouri Mountain this time. Since Missouri doesn't have it's own mountains I don't mind naming one of ours in their honor.

I drove to the trail head Friday night and slept in the van for an early start. I was up by 4:30 and on the trail by 5:15 and was gasping for air with my hands on my knees at 5:20. But aside from my physical conditioning, it was a beautiful day and watching the sun hit the peaks was truly spectacular. If I just took it easy, I might be on top by 9:00. That was if I stayed on the trail. I didn't stay on the trail.

A scree field is a field of loose rock that you have to pick your way through very carefully and it's easy to lose the trail.
Really. Anybody can lose the trail. Really. The smart thing to do when you lose the trail is to back track until you pick it up again. The dumb thing is to keep going forward confident that the trail will have learned its lesson and come back to you. I saw the mountain peak ahead of me and chose to do the dumb thing.

And I climbed the wrong peak. (but I made really good time!)

I sat down on Wrong Peak and took a picture of Missouri Mountain...across the valley and an hour away.
So now I had a dilemma. To get to Missouri I would have to descend 500 feet, traverse a ridge for about half a mile and climb back up a thousand feet to the top. I seriously considered returning home and just crossing Missouri off my list anyway. No one would know and I could tell myself that I was close enough. I started down and didn't completely decide until I reached the point where I could continue down or turn back up.

An hour later I was on top of the right mountain.

Happy Fathers Day

There are many ways to measure success, not the least of which is the way your children describe you when talking to a friend. - Author Unknown

This week like every other 3rd week of June that I remember, fathers are in the news. Celebrities and presidents are speaking of memories of their dads or the importance of being a good father. I pay attention. I'm not saying that I don't also pay attention to Mother's Day. Mothers get plenty of attention and rightfully so. Seems like there are many more good mothers (including my own) than there are good fathers so in addition to a day set aside to appreciate us, we also get reminders and lectures on the importance of being a good one.

I had a good one.

I want to make sure he knows because now that I am a father of three teens, I'm constantly asking the question of myself. Am I doing a good job? Will they recover from my mistakes? Am I a good role model? Always questions! So although I don't yet have the answers on how I am doing as a father, I wanted to provide some answers to him.

He showed me that just simply "being there" for your kids was important. He made it to all teachers meetings, plays, concerts, sporting events, and even put in the required coaching duties

I know that racism is wrong because of my dad. He came from the segregated south and when I was 8 we were visiting his home town and we went to the public pool for a swim on a hot sticky summer afternoon. The pool was surrounded by chain link and as all of us white children were enjoying the cool water, dozens of sweaty black children hung on the fence and stared at us. I asked my dad why they weren't swimming and he explained that they weren't allowed and that the law was wrong and people were stupid and we left.

I know how to work because of my dad. After a few decades of white collar work, he took an early retirement to move to Minnesota to be by my mom's parents. The idea was to get another job suited to his talents and management skills for the last ten years of his career. The December after they moved I went out to visit and watched him pump gas in the minus 20 degree wind chill. Jobs he was looking for were slow in coming so instead sitting and waiting and whining he worked at the local gas station until an administrative position opened up at the local college.

I want to contribute to make the world better because of my dad. After he finally retired he volunteered to work with kids in the school system. Most of the grandparent volunteers wanted to work with the younger elementary children, but dad volunteered in the middle school for over ten years. He received a Volunteer of the Year award and today hundreds and hundreds of kids(and now adults) call him grandpa in addition to his own 7 grand kids.

So Dad...just in case you didn't already know this...you are a good dad and I'm proud to be your son. I hope I live up to your example. Love, Jim

Paradise with a Price

For 3 months a year, I live in paradise. It's easy to forget that when it is still snowing in mid-June.

I went for a walk this morning while most were still sleeping (always the best time of the day) and even after 6 years here I am still amazed by the beauty around me. Every direction could be a post card. From now until mid September the temperatures will seldom get above 80. Humidity and bugs are practically non-existent. When storms roll through they are dramatic and exciting (thunder in stereo) and are quickly followed by blue skies and fresh mornings. The air is invisible as it should be. Water is plentiful and pure.

And there's the people! Summit County is the fittest county in Colorado. Colorado is the fittest state in the nation. And there are no age limits. I've climbed mountains and found 7 year old girls with their 70 year old grandfathers already at the top when I arrived. Sharing the ski slopes with 80 year olds is common. In my experience, healthy people are happy people and happy people are great neighbors.

Recreation? Most cars are equipped with racks that carry bikes, skis, canoes, snowboards, and kayaks. If their toys are too big they have a trailer to pull the snow mobiles, 4 wheelers, sailboats and rafts. If that's too much activity for your weekend, then choose among several festivals that are held every single weekend in the summer. What interests you? Jazz? Film? Wine? Art? BarBQ? There's a festival you can walk to that people come to from all over the country.

I live in paradise...for 3 months a year.