~ Three Bears and Life Stuff ~
On Sunday, I took advantage of the nice, but overcast, weather and rode Three Bears. I wasn't feeling 100%, so I went at a somewhat casual pace. I started out by going up Buck's Trail and Shane's, and then traversed over and dropped down onto Rocky Canyon Road, where I went up and up to connect with Three Bears. There are two extra steep sections of Three Bears which always take an extra effort - - sometimes I make it up them and sometimes I don't. On this day, I failed to peddle to the top of one, but succeeded on the other. I paused at the top of Three Bears to take in the stunning view. This is the time of year when the foothills are particularly beautiful - - with some patches of greenery and desert flowers. I rode down Three Bears, connected to Shane's, and down Central Ridge. I wasn't in my normal wicked downhill mountain biking mood, so I took the downhill rather easy...Indeed, I only did one jump on Central Ridge, where I normally jump off every protrusion in the trail. Yet, it was a fantastic ride. This photo is a view of Rocky Canyon Road as I was dropping down off of Shane's. I always find this view particularly stunning and it always amazes me that this is what I've got in (what I consider to be) my backyard. You may view more photos here. As evinced by this photo, Rocky Canyon Road is spectacular. While I was riding up the three or four miles to the Three Bears trailhead, I found myself lost in thought, thinking about life stuff in the lush and rocky canyon.
For my work, I have been living and breathing these workshops which are designed to give teaching skills to a specific group of non-professional-teachers. It has been very interesting, but kinda overwhelming in scope. One of the topics is teaching to different generations. Within that topic has been discussion regarding the work habits of these generations. Baby Boomers generally feel loyal to their employers, for example, while Generation Xers are loyal to their work but not necessarily their employer. Me, I am on the cusp of the Gen x and Millenial, and while I tend to identify as a Gen Xer, on the issue of work, I generally feel a lack of loyalty towards the whole gammut. My loyalty, rather, is focused on my lifestyle. One part of my lifestyle is being able to live right downtown and work within a five minute walk of where I live. This also goes for my schooling - - as I declined applying to a program which would require me to commute several miles away, and instead opted for the five minute away bicycle ride university program. Additionally, living within a five minute bike ride of mountain biking trails and at a hub of quality road biking is very important to me. So, while I want to have a good employer with coworkers that I like and work that is somewhat mentally stimulating, I don't have any further stipulations on my work and employer beyond their support of my lifestyle. This is evidenced by how I have recently contemplated pulling a 180 turn on my work and doing something completely different just for kicks. I have determined that I could be happy doing pretty much almost anything, as long as it falls within the broad spectrum of "doing good towards others" and satisfying my lifestyle needs.
Several years ago, I took an honors philosophy class on Albert Camus, and during one of the lectures the professor commented that it makes no difference where one lives because life is the same everywhere. At the time, I thought that was the dumbest thing he could have said, because of course location makes all of the difference. This was a few months before I decided to move to Monteral, when I thought that location was important. Now that I've been around a bit, I have determined that it actually does not matter WHERE I am living as long as my lifestyle needs are met. Sure, I've determined that it's handy to speak the language of the other residers of the location - - not being able to effectively communicate with everyone around me has been a barrier to my total living satisfaction. At any rate, I have a greater appreciation for that which the professor communicated about location not mattering as much as one might think, because one is still the same person irregardless of their location. This means that one retains the same level of proactivity regarding their own personal happiness, at least, if you're me. Of course, this assumes that things like individual liberty and freedom remain constant....as, clearly, one would be less happy if one's liberty and freedoms were resitricted in one place over another. So, that turns it upside down, and it DOES matter where you live because of variables enabling a specific individual's happiness. ANYWAY, I've been giving thought to doing random things, like randomly switching career paths to mix things up a bit, and moving to other locations for a higher quality of life. And this was what I was thinking about on my bike ride up Rocky Canyon Road yesterday.
In other news, I have finished knitting the Nantucket Jacket and it is awesome. I have not yet taken a photo of it to share, but Josh has, so you may monitor his flickr postings...if you care. The jacket was a true joy to work on, these past months. I sized it for the small pattern, and even knat it on smaller needles because I have a particularly small torso, and still, it is too big. A bit ago, I realized that it has a crocheted edge, so it was a good chance to learn some new skillz. I must say, I don't see myself becoming a real crocheter any time soon. Sure, it was fun and okay, but I wasn't super into the experience. But maybe I shouldn't judge too quickly. Anyway, maybe I'll post a photo sometime soon, if I get around to it.