Creapin'

Every day things seem to be inching forward, not really sure where I am heading. I mean you can walk the corridor, you can flag the best line, think it is all there and suddenly the mother throws something new into the path and you are forced to stop and rethink your steps. However, now you are committed to the path you are on. You have done the work and no matter what you find in your way you have to keep moving forward.

I love trail building because of the parallels to what happens in life. You never really know what you are up against until you are face to face with a slab of rock that sat only inches under the fluffy surface of soil you had been across a half dozen times. How did you miss that rock? Maybe you didn't and it is just the toil of going across it everyday on the way to the end of the trail, the leading edge that you have worn it out, you have exposed that issue that you now need to go back and deal with. "I can ignore it" you think. But, you can't you stumble and trip across it worse and worse each day you ignore it until you slip and fall. Now it has your attention.

Only some people might know what I am talking about when it comes to the trail work side of things, but I think everyone can enjoy the metaphor to life that it offers. It is one of the joys I would love to bestow on people in trail work days, but it seems there isn't the time because we have to keep pushing forward so hard. Some terrain and some lives might not have these rocks to deal with as well. It is a lucky few that get the chance to have life present them with a microcosm of the experiences they have day in and day out. Those lucky few become even more scarce as they often do not have the time to reflect on the trials they may be in the midst of. Keep pushing to the front of the trail. I consider myself to indeed be lucky to have a job and a passion that allows me both elegant metaphors and the still time to reflect on them. Thank you who ever you are.