Disheveled Musings: April 2014

Friday 25 April 2014

Feeling thankful

I realize it’s such a cliché to say how fast time passes, but really it feels like my life if moving at the speed of light sometimes. This past weekend at Coachella and then again this week when Sami and Zach were with me it struck me how grown up they've both become.

Zach, TW and Sami in the pool at Longboat Key, Florida.
(Zach was almost 3 and Sami almost 1)

In fact, Zach is almost as tall as me now, Sami not far behind although she swears she’s stopped growing, which is always accompanied with a loud sigh. Sami believes that she’s going to be too short and that all of her friends will be taller than her, even the thought of it drives her crazy. Perhaps it’s her competitive nature or maybe her athletic persona coming through, but for some reason she honestly believes she’s stopped growing no matter how much I try to convince her otherwise.

Admittedly it’s a little scary to see your 15 and 13 year old kids becoming young adults and no matter which way you cut it, its scary and freaks me out. For the most part I think it’s a realization that the circle of life moves inexorably forward and that somehow I'm not keeping pace…

Sami and Zach aged 13 and 15
respectively...wow

Strangely that all coincided with my birthday last Sunday, I suppose birthdays make you stop and take stock of where you are in your life and reflect on those important to you so it comes as no surprise that I've felt a little discombobulated this past few days, although I have been trying to break out of my funk but to no avail. A truly weird feeling to be sure, but bugger all I seem to be able to do about it.

Earlier today I caught up with Sparksy (an old teammate originally from Australia who lives in Toronto) for beers and to watch a little footy on TV (televised from Australia) at Hemingway’s, a downtown pub. We reminisced about our playing days, told stories of our crazy teammates (yes, you know who you are), and generally shared some great memories from those fun and frenetic days. It was fabulous to catch up over a beer, and it reminded me that I needed to do that more often.

On my way home I realized that my last competitive game of football was in 1996 when I broke my thumb in the next to last game of the regular season. It just seemed like the right time to retire and give my body a well-earned rest; after all it had been twenty plus seasons of training and playing almost continually and my body was definitely showing signs of breaking down. For example it took me more than a year after I stopped playing to be able to walk down a flight of stairs straight without holding onto the handrail, rather than one at a time sideways (that’s what will happen after three broken ankles and numerous torn ligaments in my ankles, a complete loss of flexibility). The final years of playing ice became my best friend – what can I say?

Feeling thankful for such a
wonderful life...

The definite upside was that I was in phenomenal shape in those days, although I'm still at my playing weight today its not quite the same…if you know what I mean. J

Interestingly whenever I watch football my mind still wants to believe I could play, my body on the other hand laughs uncontrollably at the very thought of the punishment you actually take, all the scrapes, bruises and the hits you endure and that’s just the training. It would be nice to play just once more, but during my youth when I was at my peak and super fit. If only - right?

All I can say is that I'm very fortunate to not have any long-term injuries or issues from my playing days as I'm still able to run and work out a couple of times per week, play golf and hike over the summer, ski and snowboard in the winter, plus practice soccer with Sami at the local park and throw the rugby ball around with Zach.

Yes very fortunate indeed and feeling rather thankful for my wonderful life so far.

Next weekend Sami and I are New York City for a dad and daughter weekend exploring Manhattan and catching a Broadway show – stay tuned! J

Monday 21 April 2014

Coachella - part deux

We crawled into bed at 2:30 Sunday morning after another big day at Coachella, only for the alarm to wake us at 6:00 am so we could begin the three-hour drive back to Los Angeles and subsequent five-hour flight back to Toronto. I can't remember the last time I was so tired. J

It was an exhausting weekend with me getting less than eight hours sleep - total over the two days. Zach unfortunately is starting to get a head cold after his hectic and sleepless weekend, although he did snatch a few zzzz’s in the car on our way back to LAX.

Loving Capital Cities

What can I say - Coachella was everything and more that I expected in terms of a musical education this past weekend. I saw everything from the soulful sounds of Laura Mvula, cool vibes of the Dum Dum Girls (thank you Sandra Vu for my new appreciation of drumming – way cool!), the heavy metal of Graveyard, to the iconic Bryan Ferry with a host of pit stops in between.

Some of my other favorites were Capital Cities and the dance party they put on Saturday late afternoon was out of this world, Bryan Ferry rocking out the Mojave on Friday night, Pixies (one of Seattle’s best and a key inspiration for Nirvana way back when) at the Mojave venue on Saturday night, Ellie Goulding Friday night at the main venue followed by Chromeo, Girl Talk and of course the big headliner – OutKast.

Zach has a hard time choosing who his favorite performers were over the two days, but he also raved about Nas, Pharrell Williams, HAIM, Kid Cudi and Flatbush Zombies and of course OutKast. I think getting the drumstick from the drummer of HAIM (which he wants to frame for his bedroom to go with the Jimi Hendrix album cover) was the highlight of the weekend. I think I guessed that after he asked me for the third time whether I had the drumstick in my carryon bag…yes I had to check.

There were a couple of other really important things to point out about this weekend. First, buying the bus pass and staying at a local hotel was genius (even if I say so myself) as it took the hassle out of searching for your car in one of the miles of parking lots near the festival site. It was also just 30 minutes door to door without a hiccup or a wait for the shuttle, even at 2:00 am.

Another great sunset at Coachella

Now, who would have thought that the food would be surprising? Last night after watching Capital Cities I strolled over to the VIP enclosure and picked myself up a Grilled “Mac’n cheese with pulled pork” sandwich…a super fancy grilled cheese by any other name, but I’ve got to tell you it was purely divine!

And how about the weather, with the thermometer topping out yesterday at 34C and blue clear skies it was just what the doctor ordered after a somewhat lengthy and miserably cold winter in Toronto. Shorts and tank tops both days just soaking up the sun watching those amazingly talented performers.

Overall this past weekend was one for the ages all right. In fact, Zach is already talking about next year and either coming back to Coachella or perhaps hitting the Bonnaroo Festival in Tennessee…

He’s going to need to save up – just sayin’!