Perfect Contentment

Have you ever had one of those moments that you feel is perfect? When you feel absolutely content and happy and think that if there is a heaven this is what it would be like. I had one of those moments today. The day was absolutely gorgeous. The temperature was just right, the sun was shining brilliantly and there was just a little bit of a breeze that felt so wonderful on your face. The day was so beautiful that Zack and I decided that we didn’t want to spend an hour in the car driving to El Dorado Canyon. Instead we decided to go to a park in Highlands Ranch so that Zack could play on the playground. It’s the park right next to the Highlands Ranch post office. Zack used to play at this park all the time when he was a little kid as it is very near the Montessori School of Lone Tree where he went to preschool. For whatever reason he got it into his head this morning that he wanted to go to that park. Additionally it was on the way to the trailhead for the East-West Regional trail where we were going hiking today. We got there and though it was pretty crowded it was just perfect. I found a great place to sit on a picnic table so that I could watch Zack play. Zack was having a wonderful time. He was climbing all over the play structure like a monkey. He climbed as high as he could go and he wasn’t afraid. He climbed over the top of the monkey bars and was just so pleased and happy with himself. All the while I sat there and watched. I had my iPhone with me and I had the ear phones on and was playing some music. It was great. I just felt wonderful. It wasn’t a feeling that was caused by anything other than me and Zack. I didn’t depend upon any other person for this feeling of happiness. (OK – it depended upon Zack. As my only son, I think part of my happiness has to depend upon his well being.) I didn’t depend upon a drug or alcohol for this feeling. It was all generated within me and came from just a deep sense of contentment with me and my son. It was good and it was beautiful to me. I know the whole concept sounds weird – but it is the best way I can describe the way I felt. (Zack the monkey man!) We stayed at the park for about 45 minutes while Zack ran around, played with other kids and climbed everywhere. He had a lot of fun but tired himself out to some extent. He and I had a lengthy discussion earlier whether we were going to the park first or for our hike. Of course I wanted to hike first and go to the park second. Zack wanted it the other way around. As a parent sometimes you just have to give in on things like this.. After the time at the park, we got back into the car and headed further south to the Coyote Ridge trailhead for the East West Regional Trail. This section of the trail was only completed within the last 2 years and I have never hiked on this section before. I am really excited for the time when this trail is finally complete. When it is there will be a 25 – 30 mile hiking/biking corridor opened up that will connect to so many other trail systems.

(Zack quenching his thirst at sign post on the East-West Regional Trail.)

Zack and I headed out with the intention of doing at least 2 miles. We weren’t going to push it that hard for the day because Zack was tired from playing at the park and this was my first hike since recovering from all the crap of the last several weeks. We ended up doing a total of 3.2 miles and we traversed some interesting terrain. Give the lack of tree cover, it was pretty warm for a good part of our hike. I had drinks and snacks with us, so that kept the Z-man moving.

(Yes - Zack did take this picture of me! His photography skills are improving!)

Besides the park and our hike, I also got out on my bicycle for the first ride of the season. I only rode a couple of miles today - just enough to make sure my yearly repair work on the bike was good. This is a couple weeks later than I wanted it to be as a result of the whole abscess situation. I will begin my training for the Death Ride 2009 over the next week. I got a lot of miles to cover to get ready for that ride. That ride occurs on July 11, 2009 in California. Though I am looking forward to that ride, there is something else taking place that weekend which would be of much greater significance and enjoyment to me. The other event is a wedding in Michigan and I am hoping to be invited to go as a date of a person who is invited. I am going to train for the Death Ride, but I am really hoping I end up being at that wedding that weekend. The rest of our day has centered on doing things here at home. We did go out to dinner to night at our traditional pasta spot and then went to the book store afterwards. That is kind of a Saturday tradition – to go out to the book store after we have dinner. We started this tradition years ago when Zack was a little kid and it has kind of stuck. We are now winding down for the night with a little bit of TV and off to bed we go. Well – off to bed Zack goes as I will stay up a while longer. I only watched about 45 minutes of the last episode of Battlestar Galatica last night, so I have another hour and 15 minutes to go. I will miss this show as it was pretty good. We don’t have any firm plans for Sunday as of yet. I am thinking I am going to get up with the sun and head out for the first major bike ride of the year. It won’t be a tough one as my plan is to get on the C470 bike path near here and ride to the west until I can join up with the South Platte bike trail and then ride into downtown Denver at Confluence Park. With any luck I will be in Confluence Park by 9:30AM. From there I will take the light rail home. All told it is a 30 mile ride without a lot of hill climbing. It is a good first ride for the season. I am almost done writing the next entry that I want to post to the Caringbridge site. If I get really ambitious I might finish it late tonight. Otherwise I will finish writing it tomorrow and post it then. As always - Thanks and peace to all!