Bendo, Baby!

So, Kyle & I are sitting around trying to figure out how to afford more fishing trips. Understand that when we go out, everything cost double out of pocket because it's two of us. Kyle was lamenting that he couldn't earn enough money as a 13 year old to make a significant dent.

I was holding onto a logo design, which I proposed to him to develop as a fishing apparel company to earn a little money for fishing. It's called BENDO, a slang term for when your rod is bent from having a fish on. So, on the shoe-stringiest of budgets, we made some hats and sold them pretty quickly. Most were sold to the very genuine & decent anglers on getbentsportfishing.com.

Now we have some seed money to try a t-shirt. The design above is a collage collaboration between Kyle & I called "Tuna Slam." Hopefully, folks will get excited about it.

The best part of the whole thing has been working with Kyle on this venture. Granted, he has 13 year old attention span sometimes, but he also has 13 year old energy and unabashed enthusiasm, A win-win for both of us!!!

"Try" Rugby

With yet another winter storm bearing down on us, we made the escape to San Diego for the IRB 7's International Rugby Tourney. If you have never been to an international match, it's an amazing cultural experience. The best part, though, is my brother and his team, Hyde Rugby, are also out for the games. Since we only get to see Tal once a year, we really go all out and enjoy it.

If you happen to get Fox Sports Network (FSN) on your cable TV, look for the documentary on Hyde Rugby, which is running all month. You'll find through watching it that the players are phenomenal young men. Tami got to meet them this year and see first hand why Kyle and I love the tourney and the guys on the Hyde team.

Of course, when we finally made it home, we were greeted with 2 feet of new snow to shovel....

Pics are of the tourney, my bro, the Mexico National team, and Kyle & I with the Hyde Rugby players, and the rugby family.

Like Smoke Through a Keyhole

One of my favorite movies is Bucket List, with Jack Nicholson and Morgan Freeman. It's bittersweet, but with a message that life's to short to short your life. One of the lines in the movie is "Like smoke through a keyhole...." I'm not exactly sure what that means, though it referenced time passing by so quickly, but it seems to make perfect sense and it's got a lyrical quality when spoken.

That's kind of how my relationship with my folks has been the last ten years. Like smoke through a keyhole.... It started with one of those heated family arguments where neither side saw fit to compromise. After a bit, it was an uncomfortable distance, slowing leading to life just getting on down the road. A child, a family, a career, up and downs and adventures. And ten years gone by.

Now, my mom has lung cancer with some serious chemo & radiation in her future. She's just mean enough to beat it, but then again..... Sometimes I look at her and think about how amazingly stubborn she is only to realize that the same trait was passed on to me.

I'm not naive enough to think that there's a storybook ending in all of this. No emotional reconnection on grand scale. But, when the chance comes, I will tell her I appreciate many of things she did give and that we shouldn't go another ten years without talking.

Today's photo's are right after a massive snow storm. The clouds lifted right about sunset, making our little valley a beautiful winter landscape.