Football Epilogue

The view from atop Hyland ski area in Bloomington, MN Compared to the last few years, this Minnesota winter has been hard. The persistently cold temperatures with only one small warm streak in January, mixed with weekly snowfalls has left the state frozen and white. Probably too cold for many of the out-of-town folks who were here for Superbowl LII on Sunday. Indeed I've been struck with a small case of cabin fever as well. However, it should be a time to embrace the winterness and partake in outdoor activities. Early in January I took a trip to Utah. That officially kicked-off my ski season. Utah was awesome. The ski areas are vast and varied. We (gf and I) skied Deer Valley on the Park City side of the mountains and Brighton on the Salt Lake City side of the mountain. I came home ready for more. Fortunately, my kids are now of the age where they are capable skiers. As an added bonus the Minnesota Ski Areas Association  has a program this year where fourth graders ski ...

Me trying not to throw my sister off of a balcony while "swing dancing" at my other sister's wedding reception at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas. A few weeks back I wrote about taking introductory dance lessons by way of a Groupon for Fred Astaire dance studio . They ended up being enough fun that we signed up for a beginner package of lessons. In addition to the basic steps, some basic turns and such were taught (I know, lots of "basic" going on here). The gf and I are even finding time to practice outside of the lessons. There's something very intriguing about learning the steps, technique, etc. For me, it has the feeling of learning the footwork and technique in football. It's about taking proper steps and developing the muscle memory and the ability to do everything in time. Training the brain-body correlation is a welcome challenge. Lessons and practice are as much, if not more, mentally strenuous as they can be physically.  There is a...

My daughter and her aunt on the bunny lift at Bridger Bowl just outside of Bozeman, MT.  Okay, maybe not. My kids are excited at the prospect of the first snowfall. Now that it has passed, maybe they'll be ready for the first real snowfall, which hopefully will not show up until the Thanksgiving-ish timeframe.  The last few winters have been rather mild. I am on the fence about liking and hoping that mild winters will continue. I do enjoy the reduced number of alternative workouts involving shoveling, the treacherous driving, the increased heating bills and the mouse invasion. In contrast, I do enjoy some of the activities a snowy winter has to offer. Getting the kids up on skis these last couple of years has been tremendous fun. I'm hoping to bring them someplace a little bigger than the local Hyland Ski area  or  Buck Hill . In the coming years these places will be great as I envision being able to drop the kids off, maybe ski a couple of hours and enjoy the ...

This evening, my girlfriend and I picked up a potentially interesting hobby and activity: ballroom dancing. This momentous evening came out of my looking for an interesting birthday present for her. I wanted to find something simple, but fun and hopefully memorable. I chose the gift to be from  Fred Astaire dance studio(s)  largely on account of there being a  Groupon  available. What could be better than dragging my uncoordinated buttocks out onto the dance floor? As a couple of my old football teammates can attest, I have a knack for stepping on and probably even mutilating toes. I think I've even inadvertently stepped on my kids' toes a disproportionately high number of times. Sadly, it's not because I have size 14 feet. I've worn a humble size 11 since high school. I think it could really be a coordination thing.   I'll even argue that I possess some amount of rhythm as I do play guitar and know my way around a drum kit. I can just over, under or o...