I stepped off the edge.  My mind accelerated into my body as together we slammed into the moment of ‘now’ with the intensity of fear and love, and the excitement of doing something the body was not designed for, but that the spirit craves from the deepness of the soul.
 The force of the collision pushed a shriek out of my lungs, and yet, when that shriek was finished I was still flying through the air, accelerating downward and outward, and so I quickly filled my lungs and let loose another.  …

Standing in the middle of the silent highway I watched the moon, slowly appear over the horizon only to vanish again into the cloudy sky.  Big, full, vivacious, and yet so easily hidden behind the mists of the evening.  Birds sang.  Something rustled in the grasses.  Far away emergency lights flashed silently.  Someone had died there an hour before.  Someone else had died over that hill 2 days before.  And another over that hill, and another beyond that mountain, and another in that lake, and another in that car.  So much death …

 
I adjusted the angle of the light and it caught something reflective as Andy hauled himself across the untensioned highline back to the access tunnel. The smell of rust and the reverberating echoes of friends rigging the line filtered through my concentrating mind as I adjusted exposure settings on the camera. What a wild place!

The steel launch doors high above were painted red with sheets of rusted metal peeling off. Andrew sat on a stairway to nowhere surveying the operation; his shadow powerfully projected on the ceiling. Although no protection …

 “Boulder is the #1 flash flood risk community in Colorado.” This was written on my water bill this month (and is every spring).  Think about it.
The Big Thompson flood killed over 150 people and was caused by nothing more than rain.  The same thing can (will) happen again in many other Front Range canyons.  Will you have enough time to get out of the floodpath?
Boulder County has recently implemented a new emergency notification system to augment the current systems.  Citizens can be notified via email, text message, and cell phone calls …

A breath slowly taken as I sit and apply the “Asst. Chief” rocker to my new white helmet. The hub has died down. I’m the only one left in the station after almost 5 hours of busy meetings, and I stop for a moment to enjoy the present moment sandwiched between a past of training and a future of leadership.

I smile as I think of all the congratulations, hugs, handshakes I’ve just exchanged with some of the people I admire most in the world. With not a second thought I …