Then all of a sudden

August 15, 2002

Then all of a sudden I felt good about things. I’ve been a little lower than usual lately. My regrouping resources have been overtaxed and the stray dark thoughts have oozed their way through little holes and loomed black and strange over all potentially positive things on my mind. They’re sticky and heavy and far too serious for their own good. Something had to be done so this morning I climbed the Grouse Grind (a really steep hike up my neighbourhood mountain for about 2500 feet) with a professional athlete friend who kicked my sorry ass into perspective. The cleansing effect of the endorphin overdose was compounded with two quick beer before noon in a thinner atmosphere and overlooking a breathtaking vista. That’s my kind of therapy. I suppose his absolute trouncing of my physical prowess could have lowered my self esteem and plunged me further into my cave but . . .he gets paid to smash people in such a way so I was, more or less, just in awe of his professional dedication to the cause. My fondness for borderline legal remedies made me drink a pot of coffee as soon as he dropped me off at home. I’ve since had a pot of tea and some more beer . Its hardly bennies to downers to crystal meth to heroin but I’ve stuck a flag in my twenties and claimed them proudly for the nation of higher learning. I can work the same routine on a micro level and appreciate it even more. Besides . . .I’ll save that action for heart surgeons, stock brokers and industrial rockers. Sewed the day shut with a run through some tunes with Pat Steward and my youngest son. If every generation is a reaction to the last I don’t know what he’s reacting to. He seems headed for the same chain link fence at the end of the same alley with the same dogs nipping at his heels. I can only hope the endorphins keep his spirits up.