I was introduced to climbing about 9-10 years ago by my brother-in-law, Amos. I didn't really take it seriously until about 3 years ago and since then I've grown to love it more every time I go out. Kari and I have been several places climbing-Minnesota, Arkansas, Colorado, Illinios, Kentucky, and of course our great state, Iowa.  

I only mention this because I'm 36 now and for about a year I've had this thought process going on that I hate. For some reason I have it in my head that I've got about 3-4 good years left of climbing and enjoying the outdoors, which I know deep down is absurd. This bothers me the most when I see in magazines and movies how youth is celebrated and age isn't in the climbing world. I see people like Daniel Woods who is maybe 18 sending V15 in RMNP, or Chris Sharma who is now 26-ish sending 5.15b in Nevada-both of which are amazing. 

I think the thing that bothers me the most about all of it is that I didn't get into it when I was young. I kinda blew my youth away, and didn't really do much until I was older. This very thought brings me to an interesting "crux"- I feel better than I've ever felt. I feel like I'm about 25. I've never felt so strong. I know this kinda sounds proud, but that isn't my intent. I'm just trying to get over the age thing. 

My plan is to beat the "norm". I want to be even fitter/stronger when I turn 40 than I am now. I'm looking forward to climbing well into my 40s and getting better as I get older. I look forward to taking a lot of you with me.

I may not ever be as good as Chris Sharma or Daniel Woods, but I'm better than I was a year ago.

What an awesome night! We decided to help support our local restaurant, The Redhead, and invite all of our climbing buddies and their kids to come up and enjoy a good meal before we climb. It turned out to be one helluva evening with a lot of wine, great food, great company, and great climbing! We started out with a couple of hors-douvres, horederves, orderves, appetizers and then went on to the main dish which went anywhere from a burger to a crazy salad. Then we went back to the house to sample some of Eric's home brew, which turned out awesome! After we got plenty saucy we decided it was time to climb. The guys started out the eve with plenty of throwing, cussing and crimping. We decided that Eric's beer didn't have enough of a head on it so we tried Brents. It was so foamy that the first 8-10 sips were just froth! Good job on the fermentation/carbonation, Brent!

Anyway, while all the kids killed each other with swords and sugar highs, the guys plotted and schemed about Horseshoe Canyon Ranch as we looked at previous trip pictures, drooling for what lies ahead in March! Thanks for a great evening all!   

  OK so...I've got to start talking about the things that are on my mind. Right now I'm on this kick where I try to see both sides of every argument before I decide where I stand.

Lately I've noticed that my views have shifted far from where they once were. I grew up in the country close to Burlington, Iowa, about 20 minutes away. I went to school at Danville- 1st through 12th grade. (barely 12th, let's say...12.5) I went to Harmony Bible church until I was about 33. Growing up in that scenario had made me into someone I didn't realize I was. What I mean by that is that I was someone who was pretty conservative, not by choice, but because of my location. I didn't really know much better, nor did I have much influence any other way. I didn't really know about good music, didn't know that God was cool with booze, and I knew zip about culture in general. I was living in a "conservative christian bubble". All of my friends, co-workers, and almost everyone I knew were christians, which really made it very hard to see life as it really is.

My wife and kids have recently (about 1.5 years ago) moved to Solon, Iowa, which is located about 10 miles north of Iowa City. I have worked in Iowa City on a regular basis for about 4.5 years now and have been exposed to just about everything one can be exposed to, culture, music, booze, etc.

When I first saw the culture and lifestyle of the area I was in sort of a shock. I hadn't seen anything like it, ever. (BTW I wasn't really into movies, either-which could have broken me in a little). 

Now that I see life how it happens, I can totally see that I was wrong to judge. So wrong. I have deep regret that I used to look down on people for reasons that I won't mention. My biggest problem now is that I look down on people who are like I used to be. I decided to use all of this to preface what I'm about to say.

I heard today on NPR that President Obama has changed some of the rulings on abortion and stem-cell research.

To be very honest, I don't know for certain where I stand on these issues. I don't feel that I'm educated enough to make a stand one way or another. I will say that I feel sorry for people who have had to make those decisions. I can't imagine being in those shoes, which brings me to my point-I would love to live in a society where people would try to see things from a different perspective-a perspective other than their own. What I mean is that I understand both sides of the equation now; living in both types of lifestyles-conservative and liberal.

Where I'm from, abortion is wrong in every case. Just wrong. The problem with that is that the people who say that are the ones who live in the "bubble" and don't really know anyone who ever has had to make that decision. If you talk to someone who has, it is evident that it has changed their life, for the better or worse. It is life-changing, and to say that it is wrong only throws more guilt on those who are struggling with it. I want to be the kind of person who can see things through the eyes of the person who is having the issue and not try to be the "fixer" of the problem, but the friend to the person dealing with it. To me, it doesn't matter whether or not something is right or wrong, what matters now is how I respect and care for the person who is in the middle of it.

Whether or not you agree with our new president, I think it's important to see that every issue has two or more sides to it and we can't just take one and run with it.

Anyway...that's all pretty heavy and I'm sorry for throwing down, but I felt it all needed to be said. If you would like to comment I'd appreciate it if it was on the constructive side!  
 

Well, here it is. My first blog entry on my first blog, ever. Hopefully this will turn out  to be fun and educational at the same time. My plan is to open this up to a lot of discussion on a lot of topics. I'll be discussing music, climbing, some on the religions of our day, and basically just rants on life in general. I hope this finds you all well.

First, let me say that my wife, Kari, and I are celebrating 15 years tomorrow! (she really needs a pat on the back for that). She is by far the best thing that's ever happened in my life! We have so much fun together and I wouldn't want to be anywhere else. 

Second, let me say that I'm so excited that our Tuesday night bouldering in our garage has turned out to be such a huge success! We have tons of fun and look forward to it every week. It is truly the high point of my week. We are thinking of changing it to Saturday nights because the crowd in the kitchen and garage is becoming huge, not to mention that on weekends we wouldn't need to rush to get the kiddos off to bed. 

I'm so new to the blogosphere that I'm not sure how to post pics yet, but when I figure that out, I'll put up some of what's going on in my world.

Laters