March Madness

Today is Friday and I got back home last night from San Jose with my good friend Eric. He and I went to attend the NCAA Basketball tournament, otherwise known as "March Madness". You can watch a short clip of this March Madman here...SHORT VIDEO LINK

It was great. He had this trip on his bucket list of things to do, and he invited me along for the adventure.Eric lives in Eugene.Home of the Mighty Ducks and the University of Oregon.He drove all the way to Calistoga on Wednesday and tried sleeping on my futon so that we both could get an early start on Thursday morning.

The trip down went very smoothly in spite of traffic going into San Francisco that time of the day. Eric drives a beautiful, white 2012 Audi Sports car and did not hesitate to explain all the features and highlights of this cool car.He also demonstrated it's power a little bit too.It's also nice passing people in the commuter lane during rush hour.

Our trip there went well, and we had a lot of catching up to do.He and I ran track in High School and have been pals ever since.Being children of the sixties, we had many recollections of those days... some real, some imagined.I came to the realization that we mirror each others strange sense of humor.I am truly grateful that he is one of the key players in my life even if we only see each other every decade or so.

The Sports arena at the HP Pavillion is massive.The collegiate teams were already playing and this being the first round of playoff games,boosted the excitement level considerably.The Ducks not only did exceptionally well, but went on to win their game.Eric and I cheered and had a lot of fun even up there in the "nose-bleed" section.

A Perfect day

Today was great. I got up early and went to mass and prayed for all those in the animal kingdom.This was after having stepped on Nevin's dog Lilly, at my grandnephew Miko's fourth birthday party (again, Happy Birthday Miko ! )

Lilly is a little Yorkshire terrior who has the energy of a cheetah. She must have fetched nearly 20 pitches I threw throughout Playground Fantastico. Then it happened. I turned to throw the ball in another direction and I stepped on her leg. She yelped and I felt terrible. I thought that I had broken her leg which could have easily happened. Nevin assured me that she was alright, but that did not make me feel any better. Eventually I lightened up a bit and was reassured that Lilly would be fine.

It was never my intent to hurt Lilly, of course... but this small event has made me reflect on those times when I have been an unconscious ass.Okay, so nobody is perfect.I realize today that everything I do has some sort of effect, and it is my job to be AWARE.

However,today the only control I have is over the consequences of my behavior. NOW is the time to take full responsibility for my actions. I have made some big mistakes, and the jury will be out on the extent of my part until the day I pass from this life.Today I make amends, which is to say that I am prepared to rectify any wrongdoing (intentional or otherwise).

I repeat however, that Today was a perfect day. I went over to my friend Don's house in Oakmont and left to drive to Armstrong woods for a four hour hike toward Bullfrog pond.We packed our napsacks with bottled water and fruit, and walked through the most beautiful and spellbinding forest outside of Muir Woods.The sun filtered through the tall trees as we made our way up and down steep inclines.

Spring is still a few weeks off, but you would not have known it by the type of day it was today.Here is a picture of some nice folks and their dogs.

Jo,Stuey,Nevin and Lilly