Hawaii was a ton of fun this year, more team drama than usual, but I guess that is normal. I met Corries' brother, he is really cool and the exact image of a white Hawaiian surfer; board shorts, bleached hair, tanned skin, always late, in touch with nature, flip flops, sells surf boards, infectious smile and all. Too bad I know that he is really from Montana. Also, i got to hang out with ryan's brother mike a bunch, he is super cool and he showed us a great time and drove us around a bunch even though he probably wanted to be with his girlfriend more. I didn't shoot that well, my hold was really good but I was thinking about the beach more than the shot, and it showed. The senior team coach put together did okay but we still got beat pretty good by our normal air team. Lots of sitting in the sun, boogie boarding, eating, playing pool, listening to the ocean, and enjoying the warm air. Too bad I had to come back to Reno, setting the thermostat to 65 used to seem nice, now it is just freezing.
I do have to say I am glad I am almost done with shooting this year. Oh sure, I will miss it and wish that i had focused more when I was doing it, but I think there is always a time when you have to say you have done something long enough, when the people have changed, when in this case the team has changed, when what is expected of us has changed, at a point you no longer fit in and serve a purpose there. I am the last person on the team who was there when we shot in shorts when we went to Hawaii, when it wasn't serious, when we weren't good and we didn't have a chance of making nationals, so we just went and had fun. I am the last person on the team who was on the team when we weren't good, and i think that is reflected in my attitude toward it. I am not there to go to nationals and try to be all American and want to try to beat Alaska, I just kind of like shooting and was good enough at it and consistent enough to keep getting put on the team, so in a way I don't think I am helping the attitude of the other people, they need another person who is really committed. All I could do was try to instill my outlook and attitude on some of the younger people so that they don't get too caught up in all the razzle dazzle (did I really just say that?). I want to make sure that first and foremost they remember to always have fun with it, and if they aren't having fun, stop doing it until you are ready to enjoy it again. It isn't life or death, and the good memories are worth far more than anything else. Also I just hope that they remember that the good stories can be just as much fun as the good times.
Andrew sent me a couple of links that I thought were pretty cool, so here they are:
Photos of Japan from 48-51
Photos of planes in the Mojave