Monday, February 23, 2009

svein tuft

This is a couple of weeks old now, but the Times published a pretty interesting profile of a pretty interesting dude.

Reading this has invoked a number of thoughts, things I've thought about over the years as I've considered my own relationship--and history--with cycling and the outdoors. For instance, while cycling is undoubtedly an outdoor activity, in order to race a bicycle one might ironically spend an awful lot of time in a car. It also left me thinking about the programed nature of my life and my unwillingness to take risks--as far as life's program is concerned--a train of thought which spirals into a minefield of 'what if's. But this last bit is of more than idle concern about the past, because the programed expectations that are being set for my children now will no doubt define the people they become, an issue of no trivial concern.

Yesterday, my boots were heavy with this stuff.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

You were just born in the wrong century. The goat was made for that century of western exploration where pioneer families struck out into the wilderness and lived by their wits and strength, their ability to suffer, and their ability to craft and improvise.

But now the great physical frontiers are gone and we have to settle for more domesticated ones. Maybe you made more conservative choices about lifestyle than Svein, but in the end, you at least remember that there were once those great and wild frontiers and feel them calling you and do something about it. It seems like fewer and fewer people feel that ancient call of the land anymore.

SD

goat said...

I appreciate that comment. Thanks, Sean.