I drew my breath
all the way down to my roots,
buried myself in the frozen earth,
hidden from sight and
safe from the sting
of a world with such
a distant sun.

I knew I’d return
when the sunshine came home,
and now that spring has sprung,
and longer days have begun,
I can’t roll out of bud
quickly enough.

Once I’ve fully emerged
and spread myself wide
to dance in the sky and
fly in the breeze;
once the summer sun is splashing down,
feeding me from above,
filling me with love;
then the cold winter days
will be gone and forgotten.

The distant past
will no longer matter —
except for the memory
that I can’t quite escape,
and my knowing
that the short days,
the cold winds,
the quiet death will return
at summer’s end.

The children didn’t mind
me when I filled their fields
with tiny yellow starbursts
for as far as the eye could see.

I grew toward the sun and no one
looked away nor sighed nor
wondered what to do with me.

But the flower of my youth has gone
leaving me to carry on.
I’m old and gray and
One day soon
a gentle breeze
will blow me away.

The snow fell so hard around me
– obscuring the path a few steps ahead,
hiding the invisible future from view –
that it seemed only right
to walk away into it
until a path appeared.

I ducked my chin into my collar
and kept the wind at my back
My eyes fell
on the snowy ground,
and feet stepped forward
again and again
with no idea where
my steps would lead.

I walked to the end of the road
and did not slow down
and did not turn around
and did not question where I was going
because I already knew
there are no simple answers.

As for the past
that brought me here,
it hardly matters anymore.
How can something
so dead and gone
give me anything steady
to lean on now?

When I had walked farther
than I planned
or wanted,
I turned around
and followed my tracks homeward
until they disappeared
under the falling, drifitng snow.

I have no future and now,
I also have no past.

My bike has been out of commission for a while, so Brent lent me his extra KTM CXRW530 (or something like that) – thanks! I love that bike. Tight, responsive suspension, excellent power. It was nice to discover that I still feel perfectly comfortable on a dirt bike as this is my first ride of the year, and lower Days Canyon provided ample warm up with all it’s large and loose rocks to navigate. 

We rode for about five hours – up Days, Kirkman, Pumphouse Ridge, Packard (the long east variation and normal route), and back again. I *loved* tackling rocky climbs, staying forward on the pegs and steering carefully between boulders and roots to keep the front wheel on the ground, sometimes wrenching the handlebars quickly back and forth to avoid hitting a tree trunk without riding off the trail, banked corners, fast open meadows that flashed by between winding curves, the feeling of my hands on the grips and my shoulders steering the bike and letting it do all the work, jumping the occasional hump in the trail, watching small flocks of wild turkey race away as we drove by, occasional patches of red leaves carpeting the trail, and stopping now and then to chat and make sure no one had crashed.

Afterward, when I rode my street bike home (Yamaha FZ6), it felt sluggish and unresponsive in comparison to the dirt bikes.

I haven’t been out playing nearly enough this summer, instead trying to work and get things done. But now, after a couple weeks of school, picking up an extra class and two more classes for a charter school, writing for hours some days, grading others, creating new curriculum, and other tasks, I’m feeling slightly burned out, which explains why I’m writing this blog post instead of polishing another chapter or two of the book I’ve vowed to finish writing by Halloween. But I guess I’ll get back to that now anyway. One more hour tonight. It’ll be rewarding to get a few more steps closer to completing another task.

<– Adam on Pyramid of the Sun (MUCH bigger than I expected! Awesome!!) with the Pyramid of the Moon in the background at Teotihuacan.

–> walking up the steep stairs up the Pyramid of the Sun.

<– Adam and I at a taco stand in Amecameca. We LOVE the atmosphere in Mexico and enjoyed walking around downtown at night.

–> Inside the Amecameca cathedral. With two 17,000’+ volcanoes towering over the city, think of Amecameca as Mecca for alpine pilgrims.

<– We left the trailhead at 5:22 a.m. and 13,000′ feet above sea level. An hour or two later, the sun rose and showed Popo behind us as we made our way up the steep, rocky trail up Iztaccihuatl. The Popo half of this national park is closed since it’s an active volcano. It had a major eruption a month earlier. I was kinda wishing we’d get to witness that again!

<– Dad’s school. Looks fantastic.

We went to mass next to a 600 year old cathedral and welcomed in 2012 with the family of the pension owner where we stayed. Great people! All very nice. ^ note the Mayan calendar t-shirt.

I caught the bus back up to the DF and flew home the next day.

Hot off the University of Life Press, two brand new books by Dr. Phillip Buster arrive just in time for the Republican primaries and next year’s elections! These books clarify and confirm what you always suspected…and as you may have guessed, there is not a single word between the book covers, making these books the perfect gag gift or coffee table book for your favorite political junkie or adversary!

The book comes in two forms:

Everything Democrats know about Government
Available from:
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2. Direct from the printer
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4. BUY 5 GET 1 FREE from UofLIFE.com:

Everything Republicans know about Government
Available from:
1. Amazon.com @ http://amzn.to/republicanbook – like it and leave your funny review!
2. Direct from the printer
3. Amazon Kindle @ http://amzn.to/republicankindle
4. BUY 5 GET 1 FREE from UofLIFE.com:

Each version clearly and concisely explains Democrat or Republican logic & values regarding:

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– Social Issues
– Foreign Policy
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– Environmental Policy
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From the back cover:

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About the Author

In this photo (click to zoom in), I’m the top left bright green dot. A girl fell 30′ and tumbled another 60′, and luckily stopped on a steep scree slope just down and right from me. You might call that a miracle.

She had serious injuries (but is expected to be okay) and no one knew exactly where she was. Her boyfriend, who had earlier hiked down the trail, got worried and borrowed a cell phone to call 911. The people who lent him the phone hiked up and, when the wind was blowing toward them, heard her screams. She had probably been there for an hour or two before they found her and tried to keep her warm while waiting for SAR and North Fork Fire to arrive. She was found high on the mountainside and far from any trails. Another miracle.

We set up 6 lowering stations to bring her down, including one I built with five pitons set in tiny cracks in the cliff just above her with water flowing over them. The operation went smoothly (of course), and a waiting Life Flight helicopter flew her away.

Maybe you’re thinking that none of these events are really miracles. It was just people doing small things. Like lending a cell phone. The bystanders who found the girl were hiking in the area anyway. SAR and NFF have rescued dozens of people along that stretch of mountain, and we consider it simple and easy. But that’s how most miracles come about, with just people, usually doing just small things.

If you were thinking these are no miracles, try looking at it from another angle, like the girl’s, who lay in pain for hours and who now recovers safely in a warm, soft hospital bed rather than dying on cold, hard rocks.

Now look around. Who do you see who needs a miracle? What small thing can you contribute? What are you waiting for?

Some of the boys had very little fear and thoroughly enjoyed the whole adventure, which is great; but the ones who impressed me most didn’t start out that way.

Two 12 year olds were visibly shaken as they eased over the first awkward cliff. One – after hanging just over the edge and trying to get started for a few minutes, glancing down repeatedly despite everyone’s admonitions not to – started to cry.

But neither one ever backed out! One moved steadily downward despite his shaking knees, and the other did the same once I tied a piece of webbing around his harness to offer an extra belay (a fireman’s belay on the end of the rope could stop them at any time).

When’s the last time you did something that scared you? Have you ever done anything that TERRIFIED you? I highly recommend it. It changes your life as you discover that you’re more capable and courageous than you ever knew.

I’ve long believed that courage is one of the most underrated values in the world. We sometimes speak of it as if only daredevils and heroes have a right to it. Not so. Courage is for everyone.

By the second outing, the kids were running laps up the trail and down the rope as fast as they could go, loving nearly every minute. They made me proud. With determination and courage like that, what can ever stop them?

From a book review by author Jules Harrell in the Mountain Rescue Association quarterly publication Meridian:

From Amazon.com:

5.0 out of 5 stars Inspiring and fascinating, July 30, 2011 by Baird

This book is well worth twice the price charged, especially given that part of the proceeds are donated to SAR. Divided into quick, engrossing chapters that each tell the story of a SAR operation, it’s immensely readable. Some stories will make you laugh, some will leave you in awe. Shaun Roundy has a fast-paced, light-hearted writing style that never bogs down. Everyone in Utah County should read this before heading to the mountains or the lake; maybe then we’d have fewer people getting ledged out on a cliff in a t-shirt with no gear every month.

I have never required the assistance of SAR, but my brother did, and some these stories seriously brought tears of gratitude to my eyes. Anyone considering volunteering for SAR or something similar (working at a mountain resort, national park, or similar) should definitely read this first to get a feel for what they might be facing and to understand the mindset required.

If you stumbled across this book and are wondering whether to buy it: I promise you will not regret the purchase. It’s a book I’ll proudly display on my shelf for years to come. The selfless sacrifice SAR volunteers undertake is nothing short of inspiring, and this book is an easy and fun way to learn more about SAR and support it at the same time.
5.0 out of 5 stars AWESOME book, one of a kind!, July 18, 2011 by P. Burns

Once I started reading this book, it seemed like an injustice to put it down!
Waiting inside were the tales of desperate victims, anxious heroes and the land they challenged which threatened to steal their lives! The heartfelt stories of love, loss, hope and failure kept me enthralled as I experienced the thrill of success, the tearful suffering of the hopeless and the exhilaration of the search.
This is a heart pounding, tear jerking, hooraah eliciting collection of stories of amazing volunteers whose quest is simply to help those in need.

Others tell me that they thoroughly enjoy it and fellow rescuers say they appreciate the reminder of rescue memories and that they identify with the ideas I express. I’d love to hear what you think! Order yours now from 75 Search and Rescue Stories