It turned out to be more than a snowshoe assignment. It ended with fixing a flat on a bike and a great bike ride in the desert.
Last Thursday I had an assignment for the paper to photograph a few people in Big Bear that were putting on a snowshoe race. It just happens to be the only snowshoe race in SoCal. It’s actually part of a series of outdoor events being held in Big Bear through the winter months and continuing until September. I’m not really a snow person. Snow is cold. Snow is hard to drive in. Snow is usually associated with steep winding roads with sheer drop offs. I was super happy when my husband offered to drive me up to Big Bear for the assignment, although I’m not totally convinced that he’s a better driver than me. Anyway, I met up Karen Lundgren and Paul Romero from Team Sole, Rick Bates from Big Bear Event Resources and the writer from the paper, Michel Nolan. We all put on some snowshoes and headed up the mountain. It’s funny because I walked right past about 7 pairs of snowshoes hanging from their porch and had no idea of what they were. They didn’t look anything like the old kind, you know, the ones that look like tennis rackets. I had the best time! Karen, Paul and Rick were so fun to be around. It’s refreshing to be around people that are always doing something active. I could barely walk and take pictures without tripping over my snowshoes while Karen, Paul and Rick were literally running down the mountain! I really got to thinking how much my son would love doing something like this.
I love my son. He has been a mini mirror to me since the day he was born. It’s been tough. I’ve never been sure of how to parent him. What has worked for other parents, hasn’t worked for us. It’s like we have to forge our own parenting style with him. If something works the first time, he changes and it won’t work a second time. After a truly awful Friday afternoon with him, I finally had a clear idea of what he needed. The outdoors. He needs to work with his hands. He needs to fix/build/accomplish tasks by himself. The next day, I had him get his bike and taught him how to fix a flat. I used to go mountain biking in my previous life. I was terrible at it. I wonder how I ever manage to stay alive on the trails but I loved every minute of it. I pulled out both of our bikes taught him by the “Mike Reed” style of teaching. Give him the tools and just talk him through it. After we finished, we took a ride in the desert on our bikes. It was really nice. So after all of that, I’m so grateful to have met Karen, Paul and Rick. They just might of altered our course in life a bit! Gallery
