Hollywood.

I swear. Everyone gets so up in arms about the presidential race when maybe they should be putting some of their effort and energies into the place where many more opinions are formed and influenced. Continue Reading »

I’ve always loved Moab. Such fun things to do there. From camping to climbing Wall Street to jeeping to mountain biking to motorcycling.

Okay, I admit, motorcycling is the only reason I go there anymore. It’s SO fun that it’s hard to justify taking time out for all the other great options.

Flying up steep hills at 30-40 mph, jumping bumps, dropping off ledges, riding wheelies, and feeling the powerful surge forward with just a twist of the wrist is hard to compare to pedaling slowly up endless ridges in first gear, sweating, breathing hard, then taking the downhills carefully and feeling every bump; even though the workout is nice.

I wouldn’t mind camping (since I can’t ride all night anyway) but my riding buddies are mostly wimps who need hotels, soft beds, hot showers, etc. Continue Reading »

I may have said this a time or two already, but I LOVE autumn! This year, I hear it’s one of the warmest on record. I want to enjoy all I can before it’s gone and the cold sets in for months and months.

When my brain can’t take any more grading or programming, I take a short hike up a nearby trail to relax. Today, I stood in the back yard and watched yellow leaves fall 80′ from my tall trees while on the phone. Last Thursday afternoon, I kayaked a mile or so out on Utah Lake.

The weather was perfectly comfortable, the water calm and glassy, and the company good. I went with an old friend with two boats. She’s smart, insightful, kind, speaks several languages, has lived interesting places around the world, my dad and step mom adore her, and my dad even threatened to cut me out of his will if I didn’t go out with her. Which, I must add, was not why I went, but it’s funny and worth mentioning. Continue Reading »

The weather has been perfect again. Warm and sunny. Better use it up while it lasts! This afternoon was a perfect chance to take advantage of living right up against such a beautiful mountain as Timpanogos.

CJ, Curtis and I hopped on our bikes and spent the afternoon riding the Ridge, Tibble Fork, Mill Hollow, Little Deer Creek & Horse Flats Trails from the Alpine Loop summit. Continue Reading »

I took a few steps closer to a new career path, met a dozen new people, and now exciting opportunities are coming at me from all directions.

I like it!

The first step was toward sales for ZYTO Corp, where I used to be the VP of Training and Customer Success. That’s the job I left to sail 2,500 miles from Aruba to Acapulco last year. They have very exciting technologies that could change the face of health care in significant ways.

At a sales summit last week/weekend, I met other reps and we’re discussing various cooperative efforts. Not only could they be rewarding, but the people are sharp and good and I really enjoy working with people like that.

I also got hired to help some new users with additional software training, which lead to my energy work skills being added as one of the possible referral options that clinic tests for to send clients who would benefit from it. Continue Reading »

Above Rock Canyon, between Cascade Mountain (10,908′) and Provo Peak (11,068′) sits Lightning Pass. A year and a half ago, after riding motorcycles for 8 hours behind Timpanogos and then up Provo Canyon’s Left Fork and Big Springs, Darin Vandecar and I attempted to ride over the top of the mountain, but didn’t make it. We got stuck behind two other bikes spinning their wheels up a few hundred feet of steep, loose switchbacks. By the time they reached the top, my time was up (had to go float the Provo with a bunch of friends) and we had to turn back.

I’ve craved another shot at the pass ever since. This time I planned to try from the front (west) side. Whenever I mentioned it, I heard stories of a steep, difficult, and possibly impassible scree field near the top and few of my riding buddies seemed very enthused about it. Continue Reading »

Today I went to lunch with my friend Brent (formerly of SAR and still an occasional motorcycle buddy) and we got talking about winter and ski season. I decided to get a season pass at Sundance this year - only $209 for weekdays.

Sundance isn’t steep enough to get me very excited about skiing there all the time, but it’s only a few minutes up the canyon and having a season pass will be great motivation to get outside and catch some daylight on a regular basis. I’ll bring my telemark skis and master that this year. Continue Reading »

I promised to take the neighborhood kids I teach in Sunday school sailing and I realized that one benefit of making commitments and scheduling things is that it pulls me away from working too long.

The boys had homework deadlines and other activities and couldn’t make it, so the girls rounded up their friends in the neighborhood and six of us pulled the boat down to the Marina around 4:30 this afternoon.

There wasn’t any wind, but we enjoyed the warm weather and spent a while diving off the boat and swimming. The water was comfortable with alternating warm and cool pockets. It felt great to be in the water, and enough time had passed that I forgot to miss Bear Lake’s clear, pristine waters. Continue Reading »

I can only work so many 12-14 hour days in a row without a significant drop in productivity, so when my motorcycle riding brothers planned a trip up Hobble Creek canyon yesterday afternoon, I thought I’d best join them. We ended up riding 72 miles round trip and I’m so glad I made the right choice.

After all, autumn is here and it won’t last forever. The best seasons - spring and fall - are far too short in Utah, and with autumn just begun, time is already running out to enjoy it, to get outside and find that perfect spot among the blaze-red and yellow leaves. That perfect view edged by magnificent mountains or a peacefully-still private meadow. The place where a crystal creek spills endlessly over rocks and roots and makes you forget to be in such a rush all the time. Where you remember to stop living in the future or past and land smack-dab in the ongoing present moment, at least until you climb back in your car and drive home again. Continue Reading »

I read my friend Chantal’s blog today as she recounted her birthdays over the years. She mentioned me in one and said this:

“My friend Shaun took me to the mountains for dinner a little later (crutches and all). He made a birthday wish for me that my life-long dream of traveling abroad would come true. Somehow I knew that his wish would come true. He just seemed to me to be one of those people who always got what he wished for.”

Sure enough, her next birthday was spent in France where she spent the year studying. She later served an LDS mission in France, and has traveled to Mexico (a spontaneous trip with me), Thailand, and I don’t know where else.

I’d like to take credit for this wish come true, but other than the Mexico trip, it was simply inevitable. She’s one of the most motivated, goal-oriented people I’ve ever known, with pages and pages of what you might call a “to do list,” except in place of “wash the car, call Mom,” her list was filled with things like “learn pottery, learn Spanish, buy a house, go to law school.” If anything, the only magic she needed was for someone to believe in her dreams.

Of course it’s always nice to be remembered, and her last sentence is bouncing around in my head now, and I realize two things: Continue Reading »