I discovered this cool thing... Outdoors

In the last week, I've had two really cool experiences.

On Sunday, for Mother's Day, Vicki, Katie, and I all went up to Forest Park and pretty much spent the whole day there. It was so nice the three of us just hanging out together and checking out the aquatic gardens and the playground. It was a beautiful day, and I don't think any of us could have enjoyed it more.

Then last night, I went fly fishing for the first time ever. It was awesome. There was the one moment, where I stopped worrying if my form was any good at all, or where the heck the fish were, and just soaked it all in. The sound of the stream babbling along, the cool but pleasant pressure of the water against my legs, the view of the hills covered with freshly grown leaves, a goose, numerous swallows, the cars passing by on a vintage iron bridge, and the sight of my companion casting his fly perfectly back and forth.

This outdoor thing rocks - now why is it I don't enjoy it more? Oh yeah, because I'm a dummy and moved to New England where the weather is only nice a few months a year. But the fly fishing rocks. I can't wait to go again.

The Big 5-Oh

I know I haven't posted anything new lately. I guess part of the reason for that is this is a significant post - my 50th on this blog. So I guess I felt like it should be something monumental. Instead, you get this "Woo-Hoo" entry.

I will take the time to share my wonder of what the Internet does for us. Now that spring is in full swing, I pulled out my lawn mower the other day to get ready for the season. After performing "standard maintenance" (new oil, new gas, new sparkplug, clean the air filter), I now cannot get the darn thing to start. Fortunately, I've been able to turn to Matt for help in troubleshooting the issue. What's really amazing when you think about it is that Matt is in Chile, something like 5000 miles away, and he's helping me diagnose a small engine issue. Definitely nothing I would have tried over the phone (expensive) or postal mail (slow).