I Almost DIdn't Know Jack
Here's a weird thing.
So we're hiking up the steepest portion of the Burro Trail, taking a lot of breaks because the trail was at an elevation about 8,000 feet higher than where we live, and it was really steep, and we're old and fat and mildly asthmatic and just horribly out-of-shape. While we were on one of these breaks, we saw a man and teen boy coming up behind us much more quickly because they live in Colorado (you can tell), so we let them pass. The man said "hello" as he marched past us, and I said, "hey, there," but was struck by a wave of recognition. I sat on it, though, because one of my more intense social anxieties is accidentally claiming to recognize somebody who turns out not to be that person, and I don't want to start an awkward conversation with a stranger, and it was really unreasonable that I should see anyone I know on this trail. So the man and boy walked on.
As it turned out, though, they stopped for lunch not far ahead of us. The man said, "Hello, again," and I paused and took a long look at him. After a moment, curiosity overcame anxiety, and I said, "Jack?" The man's eyes widened, and he looked at me more closely. "Clint?" "Yeah." "Holy shit!"
I had an association with the Earth Sciences Department at the University of Illinois at Chicago for a while between 2011 and 2013, and Jack was one of the guys working in the department at the time. He also happened to live about a block from me, just across Fullerton Avenue from my old place on Maplewood, and we probably could have spent a lot of time hanging out and drinking beer (he's a big fan of beer) if I weren't such a goof about that sort of thing. About seven years ago, he moved to Colorado and took a temporary science job with the National Park Service, doing digital scans of significant landscape features, so I hadn't seen him since 2013. I come out to Colorado a lot, and I knew he was out here, but I'd never looked him up. As it turned out, I didn't have to. I just had to wait until I ran into him on a trail. So here's a picture of me and Jack on a trail.
Editor's Note: This is a really bad picture of me that illustrates a lot of why I found this trail so difficult, and I normally wouldn't post it, except the story's just too good to skip. On the upside, this specific picture has kicked me into gear about getting healthy, and I've lost about 15 pounds since Robin took it. Election week kind of wrecked the diet, but I'm getting back into it today.
I Almost DIdn't Know Jack
Here's a weird thing.
So we're hiking up the steepest portion of the Burro Trail, taking a lot of breaks because the trail was at an elevation about 8,000 feet higher than where we live, and it was really steep, and we're old and fat and mildly asthmatic and just horribly out-of-shape. While we were on one of these breaks, we saw a man and teen boy coming up behind us much more quickly because they live in Colorado (you can tell), so we let them pass. The man said "hello" as he marched past us, and I said, "hey, there," but was struck by a wave of recognition. I sat on it, though, because one of my more intense social anxieties is accidentally claiming to recognize somebody who turns out not to be that person, and I don't want to start an awkward conversation with a stranger, and it was really unreasonable that I should see anyone I know on this trail. So the man and boy walked on.
As it turned out, though, they stopped for lunch not far ahead of us. The man said, "Hello, again," and I paused and took a long look at him. After a moment, curiosity overcame anxiety, and I said, "Jack?" The man's eyes widened, and he looked at me more closely. "Clint?" "Yeah." "Holy shit!"
I had an association with the Earth Sciences Department at the University of Illinois at Chicago for a while between 2011 and 2013, and Jack was one of the guys working in the department at the time. He also happened to live about a block from me, just across Fullerton Avenue from my old place on Maplewood, and we probably could have spent a lot of time hanging out and drinking beer (he's a big fan of beer) if I weren't such a goof about that sort of thing. About seven years ago, he moved to Colorado and took a temporary science job with the National Park Service, doing digital scans of significant landscape features, so I hadn't seen him since 2013. I come out to Colorado a lot, and I knew he was out here, but I'd never looked him up. As it turned out, I didn't have to. I just had to wait until I ran into him on a trail. So here's a picture of me and Jack on a trail.
Editor's Note: This is a really bad picture of me that illustrates a lot of why I found this trail so difficult, and I normally wouldn't post it, except the story's just too good to skip. On the upside, this specific picture has kicked me into gear about getting healthy, and I've lost about 15 pounds since Robin took it. Election week kind of wrecked the diet, but I'm getting back into it today.