This is John. We ride together on Thursdays, to survey snowmobile routes, place directional and safety signs, and trim limbs and brush.

The day is enhanced when you can eat lunch in a good spot. Today we made it to Naneum Meadow. I was fooling around with my gear and turned to find John leaning his pack on the steering column to make a comfy couch. He’d poured a cup of tea from his thermos and was settling in to bask in the sun and eat his sandwich. Ah. Thirty minutes of conversation about random topics. I remembered various trail crew trips to the meadow…the time Jon was gored by a wheelbarrow handle and we all laughed because we thought he was fooling around, the time Tiffany and Dave were tossing rocks down into the turnpike, the time I took a break from hauling gravel and followed butterflies into the meadow…We talked about skis. Should I get skate gear or back country gear? What’s next in my skiing career? What’s the last new thing you learned that you are really enthusiastic about? (Yoga, botanical drawing…)

Then we went back to work.