like waking up from a long nap....

It’s darkest before the dawn, and after 5 consecutive days of rain, nothing was more beautiful than waking to a bright, warm sunny morning. The rain glistened brightly off of the grass in the front yard, and everything seemed to be alive again, all the colors seemed more vivid, more vibrant. The animals too seemed to enjoy the reprieve in the deluge, as I saw rabbits, and groundhogs poking out of the wilderness of my suburban landscape as if to say, “hello morning how the hell are you.” Perhaps I was a bit optimistic, but it looks like the worst of the rains are behind us, and we are looking at the potential of a beautiful weekend. Nothing makes you appreciate beautiful weather like 5 days of dreary dark rain.

I packed my road bike into the car this morning, hoping to escape from the prison of the trainer or rollers. Yeah, you can get a workout with those tools, but there’s just no soul. All the work, with none of the reward. No flow, No harmony, None of the magic that riding a bike brings for me. It’s almost like Britney Spear’s singing a classic Rolling Stones tune, yeah the song is good, but the delivery sucks. Is there any feeling, anything at all behind it? Or is she just reciting memorized words that yet another song writer has written for her. Does she know who killed the Kennedys? Does she know who stuck around St. Petersburg? Who held a General’s rank? I think not. It may be a few days before the trails are dry enough to ride, but the beautiful warm sun, it works like the Lazarus pit bringing me back to life. The vision of ripping single-track this weekend is enough to keep me going.

My wife she is a Dave Mathews fan. Me, not so much, but being as my wife is a Dave Mathews fan, last night was my 5th time seeing Dave. Last night he was awesome. Even for a non fan like me, he was awesome. I typically don’t go for all that hippy shit, and walking through the parking lot, I felt very old, as I saw more f-ed up young kids, and scantily clad I might add. Let me say this, if your 15 year old was at the Dave show last night, chances are they were drunk or stoned. I however, was not. There were lots of people who were there to see the show, and some, like the strippers who stood next to me, who were there to be the show. I didn’t know whether to stuff some singles in their shorts, or to ask for a beer out of that huge endless sack they carried as a purse. My favorite comment of the night came from woman sitting behind me to the strippers standing next to us dancing and grinding on her boyfriend. “It’s great that you date a mentally challenged guy and all, but if you spill that beer on me, I’m gonna punch you in your bitch ass face.” Ah, 2006 the summer of love. But I digress; the show as I said was incredible. Dave and company lay it all out on the line. They promise to deliver an experience, and they do. Hell, I found myself singing along in sections, and even getting my groove on at times, you know in the sad, old skateboarder, not moving my feet while I dance kinda way. The highlight for me was when he played “proudest monkey”, I love that song. A very late, but very fun and entertaining night.