11 hours of sleep later I arose, just as the clan was off to visit the magnificent land we briefly walked around yesterday. Perhaps this would be the first visit without rain.

There is a saying that we are the average of the 2/5/whatever people we hang with the most. On this trip, after so many different families and situations, I can see how easy it is to agree.

Yet the statement doesn’t take into account why we do what we do; that is important too no? And how do we know, of the many things we do in even a single day, what to cling to as self defining?

This categorization is of course critical and natural: safe versus dangerous is generally at the root of it all. I prefer fun versus the rest.

Dogs certainly don’t care how or with whom we talk, eat, dress, pray, recreate, pay allegiance and so on. Perhaps we care because we need to think we’re good and look to those characteristics for self definition. It is a shame to exclude entire peoples for not fitting into our current ideology, as, really, are we not moving points along many continuums? Too often we judge people close to our most excellent dot as good whereas the rest are not.

Doesn’t this suggest there is no greater meaning to anything? Because we are forever changing anyway, which means what is most important is always in flux, and then as physical beings we are so temporary compared to most of what makes up the universe. This sounds, as with time, like another example of relativity.

Seriously, can you even remember what was upsetting or inspiring last month? Then why do some of us react so powerfully and emotionally to the latest whatever? How is that helpful?

The saddest cases are people who unhappily did what they didn’t want to do and are furious at people who didn’t follow the rules for showing there was actually a choice.

We drove to town to make calls and be businesslike. I ran out of stuff to do quickly and biked over to a park to practice rear wheel lifts for tight turns, bunny hops and balancing. Yay I never once hit my rear tire bunny hopping up the curb and actually sailed it over a 1 yard section on the way back. These little practice sessions certainly make a difference.

It’s been rain and more rain, which means the dirt road to the backcountry is sloppy and slippery. There is a steep uphill towards the end which had our 2 wheeler sometimes slipping as we made our way up. We were thankful when we turned into the long driveway and finally arrived.

All in all it was a mellow day.