Home just for the moment

Lucy, Daniel, and I returned from our two week adventure to Illinois in good order. We had a wonderful stop at Turkey Run, where we hiked vigorously for several hours. After lunch in the lodge, we hit the road (several hours later than I had intended) and arranged to stop at the Comfort Inn in Kent where we've stopped before. Through various machinations, I managed to get us there in time to stop in the hot tub for a few minutes before they closed the pool. Mmmm!

It's been a bit hot for much riding, but I got in a lovely ride yesterday morning before it got too hot. I just rode to the Belchertown end of the Norwottuck trail. As I approached the Lawrence Swamp, I could hear a train on the parallel track. The train converges with the active rail line and runs along it to the end. The train was going quite slowly (not surprising given that there was a derailment there just a few weeks ago) -- so slowly that I was riding faster. I pushed a little and crept my way up along the train and had just pulled level with the front locomotive when we got to the end of the trail and the train sounded its horn for the level crossing. Even though I had been expecting it, I nearly jumped out of my skin.

We celebrated Daniel's birthday. After some consideration, we decided to get him an iPhone. When I first started having an "always on" network connection at home, I realized the disruptive nature of the innovation: it utterly transformed how you used network technology to know that it was always there. Having an iPhone with a 3G connection (as opposed to an iPod Touch or laptop) is similar: you ask questions that you wouldn't otherwise ask. It was similar to when I started wearing a leatherperson: I received it as a gift and wore it for weeks without ever using it. I remember wondering one morning when I put it on, why I bothered since I never used it. That morning, I was driving to work and the sun visor kept flopping down. I looked and determined that it needed a philips-head screw driver. "I'll never remember to bring a screwdriver out here," I thought. And only then remembered that I had one! I pulled over, got out my leatherperson, fixed the visor, and then realized I had thought the same thing about a dozen things in the past week: little repairs or adjustments that I hadn't made because I didn't want to take the time to track down a tool to fix the problem. I hope Daniel has the same experience with his new iPhone.

The next few weeks are going to hectic. On Sunday, I fly to San Diego for a meeting about the future of NASK. It should be an interesting discussion and I'm looking forward to hearing what ideas people have for taking it into the future.

The following weekend, I fly to Michigan for my 30th high school reunion. I didn't think I would ever be willing to attend such a thing, but I find that I have let go of much of the bitterness I felt about my experience in high school.

As soon as I get back from Michigan, I pack for the Universala Kongreso in Copenhagen. In a way it's a good thing I'm going to be so busy, since otherwise I would be paralyzed with fear. I'm not really a very adventurous person. Which is strange, since I keep having adventures. I generally have a great time, but I always ask myself beforehand, "Why am I doing this again? I would be perfectly happy at home with a nice bottle of beer." I'm sure it will be awesome, but I'm still always petrified before I actually set out.