I’m not a gambler, but I would bet an acre of quality midwest farmland that the team at Zillow has been seeing a flurry of activity coming from Southern Oregon this past week. The Venn diagram of people like us who like to play outdoors and those with a smoke-triggered mood disorder is basically just a circle. It’s one thing to stay indoors and binge Ted Lasso for the 5th time because I choose to but to just not have the option to play with AQI’s in the mid-200’s literally stifling my outdoor time? Nope. Uh uh. I can get a piece of that Iowa farmland for less than a tiny house in Ashland? Byeeeeeee.
Last week was…rough. No group runs, no Mt. Ashland Hill Climb**, no blue skies or sunshine, the Coronavirus surge giving us that familiar uncertain-times gut ache. It felt a little like THIS around the ‘ol Woodlands HQ; various takes on the sentence “I don’t know if I can do another summer with this smoke” uttered with words and eyes. This shit sucks.
Okay, so, it sucks. Is there anything we can do to control it? Nope. So now what? (do you hear that rumble in the distance ya’ll? That’s the hype train coming your way - TOOT TOOT!)
Will one week of rest ruin your training? If you ask Coach Evan he will tell you a resounding, “HELL NO!” In fact, maybe instead of lamenting something you cannot change (smoke), how about instead when the smoke rolls in you say bring it on! and use it as a chance for rest, for contemplation, for finally finishing that project you’ve been putting off, for creative adventure travel outside the smoke. Still stuck? Check out THIS video by one of our fav creative people on how to get unstuck and figure it out.
Figure it out.
Figure it out.
Pals, we got this. It sucks, but we got this. As I write this the sky is blue, the sun is shining, and I remember again all the reasons why I love Southern Oregon: the easy, traffic-less access to wilderness, world-class trails, the best breakfast burritos on earth, and, of course, this community. We are in this together and, let me tell you, one summer with midwest swamp ass, pterodactyl-size mosquitos, and no mountains? You’d be back.
We really hope to see you all at runs this week. A reminder that if the AQI is >150 we will cancel. We will announce cancellations via our Facebook and Instagram stories.
#BeTheBuffalo #PetsHeadsAreFallingOff
**Mt. Ashland Hill Climb is postponed until September 18th. Registration is still open HERE