Things I Love...

I love peaks over fourteen thousand feet, the thin, oxygen-depleted air, the view of hundreds of miles out in 360 degrees, the sky and mountains meeting as one, the jagged ridges leading up to the pointed peaks towering like giants above. I love the feeling of my heart pumping, my lungs heaving, and my legs moving beneath me. I love the wind rushing toward me while my legs pump and the thin tires hum against the pavement, bouncing across rocks as the fat tires grip and slide, the quick turns, tiny adjustments and balancing acts. I love the feeling of a good hit—Pop!—crashing in the snow, limbs flailing, flying and changing momentum, rolling, popping back up from a big crash and riding off again without missing a beat. I love lacrosse. I love cutting back across the field as the defender falls to his knees, the snap of the twine when I pin the corner, the sound of the stick cutting the air, and knowing where someone is going before they do. I love the feeling of a long awaited victory.
I love the sound the snow makes beneath my feet. I love the sound of the wind whizzing past my ears, and the feeling of gliding over fresh powder. I love watching the ground fall from under my feet and the feeling of weightlessness that comes soon after. I love growing apart from my shadow and watching it cruise along the ground from high above.
I love flying.
I love the cold, crisp, morning air. I love cold nights and summer days. I love spring. I love the winter and I love the summer. I love blizzards, rain, ice, grass, and the sun on my face.
I love dancing.
I love worthless nights with good friends. I love laughter that feeds itself. I love arguments like old married couples, “bonding,” random, idiotic competition, fireworks, and “ruckus.” I love inside jokes. I love eagles in rooms and lifelong friends.
I love life and the beauty of it all.

Me doing what I love.^