Connection: Life Lately

Sep 29

Written By William Gonzaba

With all the change going on in my professional life, this slower pace of the summer was well received. I spent about two weeks in July repainting our old pop up trailer. I’ve never done a project like this, but I think it turn out pretty darn good if you ask me. You can see a before and after photos above. It was white with faded decals when we purchased it. Now it’s a nice green with desert tan on top.

We took our camper to Rockport a few times and Perdenales State Park. One of things I love about this camper is that it’s so simple and it allows us to get away for a quick weekends without braking the bank. Both my wife and I really lent into the power of quick weekend escapes this summer. It’s amazing what just a night or two away can do for the family.

I was on the bike a lot less this summer, but in a lot of ways it made me really cherish every time I did get to ride. I’m not sure if it’s the season of life I am in, or maybe this my new prospective on riding - but lately, the bike has felt much more like a means for me to be in nature vs a vessel for training. I found this true with running too. When you go hard, or when you’re focused on splits, it’s easy to miss all the beauty that’s outside. Sound corny, I know. But damn, there is so much to notice when you take the time to do so. I’ve also enjoyed getting to ride with my buddy - Andrew (bottom left) - a lot more this summer. I actually met him through an OPP coffee ride I use to host - now six year later we are still friends and riding together. He’s just much faster than me now.

Lastly, I’ve probably mentioned it, but I love reading. Here was my summer reading list - I really loved all of them:

The Tiger - a True Story of Vengeance and Survival - I love a good narrative non-fiction. This story takes place in Russia, and is about a man who is mauled to death by a tiger, and follows the search party that has to hunt this tiger down. Awesome book - I learned a lot about tigers… and Russia
London Falling - This book is by Patrick Radden Keefe - who does amazing work. This is another narrative non-fiction about a young man’s mysterious death in the Thames River in London. Crazy story, amazingly sad. I could not put this book down. So good if you like true crime kind of reads.
Comfort Crisis - I think you would label this book as self help? But I really can’t get into self-help books, and I think that genere would not do this book justice. The Comfort Crisis explores how must of society lives in an overly comfortable world - and it explores the detrimental health effects this has. But more than that, I think the principles of this book provide a great summary of how to live a healthy life in today’s world. There’s also backstory of an epic 30 day backcountry caribou hunt in Alaska - so now I feel like I need to do that.
Lonesome Dove - This book and the next book were monsters - both over 800 pages, but damn, they were so good. I don’t think I’ve ever read a novel as long as this, but you get so much more character development out of it. You have to commit. This was also the first western novel I’ve read. It was great. Obviously I love that much of the book took place in south Texas. Its funny, there’s action, romance, and family drama… all wrapped up in a macho western tale of a cross country cattle drive.
11/22/63 - This was the first Steven King novel for me. Such a good book - I was totally hooked from the beginning. I loved the pacing of the story. The character were perfect. In short - the book is about a man who goes back in time to try to stop the JFK assassination. The underlying theme of this book is the butter fly effect - which really made me think about how small things that happen in our lives can have big impacts. Action, history, romance, what’s not to love.
A Walk in the Park - In preparation for our Grand Canyon trip in few weeks I read this book. It was great. It’s about a two guys who through hike the entirety of the Grand Canyon. If you love nature, deserts, canyons, and adventures, you’ll love this book.
Yesteryear - I just stared it last night… so far so good. That’s all I’ve got on this one.