Have you ever noticed how tough people can be? It’s inspiring. All you need do is follow along with the seemingly regular, (at least recently) mountain lion attacks on the west coast. I can’t believe how hard these guys are fighting and in the end, most getting away with years of surgeries ahead. Those experiences always remind me that when it comes to that moment, when “flight” is not an option you fight or surrender. Something I think we practice every day but in such tiny ways we may never notice. In the end though I think the practice pays off when it has to.

Speaking of tough it’s nice to see Andrew McAuley’s little red blip has moved past the halfway mark. I’m sure you’ve been following along so I won’t repeat his wife’s reports here. Amazing guy. I smile every time I think about how he solved the problem from last time and went right back at it. No quit. I can only dream of being that tough.

On element of being tough is determination. Hanging in there when something seems impossible or for the lack of a better word, “tough”. I’ve had the honor of watching our CTA Research Goddess (and I hear possibly land support. .) Nydia Kien as she’s worked her way back into sea kayaking over the last couple years. She is now an instructor at Rutabaga in Madison. I’ve not sat in on one her classes yet but imagine she has to be a good instructor. People are when they remember they are just people and not “Copper Gods in Raybans”. Nydia has her feet well on the ground. So the last 3 weeks she’s been making pilgrimages over to Baraboo for some rolling assistance. When someone repeatedly drives 2 hours each way just to have you work with them it’s a humbling experience. Especially after last week when she drove through a snow storm only to get her and have the pool closed!! Yikes. Hopefully yesterday was worth the drive. We’re soooo close!!!

oh, yeah and I forgot to add while Nydia was taking a break I finally got my first offside hand rolls. Yippie!!