Notes from Steve

Last week was RAGBRAI*.  It was awesome.  I rode every mile at high, efficient speeds, and there were absolutely no issues, except that people’s faces hurt from laughing too much.  Also, the weather was stone cold, perfect.  No rain, and oddly enough, the wind was always at our backs.  God smiled and said it was to be, and it was.

My mom and dad once went to this dinner party where they were given tasks when they got there - including vacuuming the carpet.  Dinner was grilled chicken, and they didn’t eat until 10PM, and it was burnt.  Mom laughed so much when she told me this and said that Thelma, the host, said - “you serve that late, and everyone is so hungry they’ll eat anything!”  The meal was a disaster, but the event was a triumph of laughter and, because of that, very memorable.  

So, if RAGBRAI is perfect and 100% amazing - that would be lovely.  But if it rains or our dinner burns - memories will be made and we will look back and smile that we shared it with friends.  (Last year’s RAGBRAI was hot, long and crowded … and humid … and very hot … and very crowded, but I tell people it was like partying with friends on the Titanic as it went down, and “disaster fun” with friends is truly pretty awesome.)

*Actually, I’m writing this before I leave.  Most of this stuff is made up … fyi