A Big F’ing Snake

“The snake which cannot cast its skin has to die. As well the minds which are prevented from changing their opinions; they cease to be mind.”
— Friedrich Nietzsche

Hey Monday, how are you? Good to see you.  It’s 5:10 a.m., we hit the bed early, still on Eastern Time, but will soon adjust to our new time zone.  We got up yesterday, Bay and I played cards, I made breakfast, we all showered, and then headed to our trailhead.  We took PVHT along, her first big girl hike.  As we headed to the trailhead, my friend Rick called; he and his wife flew into Denver; I said we would text when we were done with our hike.

She was a trooper; we did about 2 hours at Mount Falcon West; we took it slow since it was our first hike of the summer, and we have been at sea level for the last 30 days.  We took the tower trail and then meandered back to the meadow trail before heading back to the car.  I had PVHT on a short leash to help her understand her boundaries.  As we were almost to the end of the meadow trail, I saw a bull snake about a foot away from my foot.  I did what any warrior would do; I screamed SNAKE, snd ran away as if I was a 12-year-old girl.

I will tell you I think the snake was 4 to 5 feet in length; its head was rising as you see in the movies, ready to strike. I’ll share it was a B.F.S. As we walked back to the car, we shared our news, be careful, snake ahead.  Most headed that way to get a glimpse of the monster, we kept in the middle of the trail and headed back to our car.  I thought about Rick and figured I’ll text when we get to our lunch spot.

We got to the Sit and Bull; I ordered a Corona light, nothing like a cold beer after a nice hike.  PVHT sat by our table; we got her a water bowl and proceeded to feast on pulled pork and street tacos. Bay headed back to the condo; we headed home, a quick stop at the grocery, I was cooking, then we got home and started to work.

We are still moving things up from the basement, a minor load here and there.  I did a jigsaw puzzle and listened to vinyl records.   I’m enjoying our vinyl collection; listening to a side of an album and then flipping reminds me of my childhood. 

About 5:00, we started cooking, wrapped up by 7:00, and I think we were in bed by 7:30.  If you are playing at home, that’s 9:30 back home; we will stay up until 9:00 tonight and get back on mountain time. At 3:30 a.m. I woke up and thought, “Rick!”.  I sent a text this morning; I’m embarrassed; I forgot my friend was in town, we did nothing, we could have hung out; I’ll catch up with him later this week.

I’ve got a coaching call this morning, looking to hire another coach.  Then we are heading to meet another insurance professional for coffee, a referral from a good friend. I’m doing some coaching this afternoon with one of our team members. I’ll work with my team to set up a cocktail hour this Thursday night.  Our first in-person meeting in over a year.  

I have a good friend in a relationship, and I’m a little concerned that all he does is fight with his mate.  I’ve been in toxic relationships before, where you bicker more than you enjoy each other.  It’s a miserable existence, and I wonder if I should pull my friend aside and say, “life is beautiful when you find a partner that accepts you for you.” My wife and I don’t fight; we are not jealous of one another; we trust each other and spend most of our waking moments together.  I love her; she loves me; we’re a good team. 

I trust you had a good weekend; it was nice to arrive home to a clean and organized house.  We will start seeing our friends soon, get back to our mountain rhythm.  We will work here until Thursday; we will board a plane and fly to South Carolina; we have an Air B and B to see our kid play baseball.  We’ve got games Thursday, Friday, and Saturday, and then we will head home on Sunday.   We’ve got some family joining us; it should be an excellent short trip.  That is the only travel we have booked, we will be heading back to Indiana now and then, but most of this summer, we will spend at our mountain house.

Work hard, be kind, look for opportunities to help your fellow man, woman, or transgender. Take some time to be present with those around you, put your device down, and lean into the person or people you are visiting.  Listen and don’t think of a response or a counter to their point; just listen and see if you can get a nugget of wisdom from your fellow human; we’ve all got gifts to share, so this is your reminder to open your mind, heart, and share in the beauty we call life.

“The snake which cannot cast its skin has to die. As well the minds which are prevented from changing their opinions; they cease to be mind.”
— Friedrich Nietzsche