A Tribute to my Friends

Kristine and I had a special visit from two old friends of mine. They both coincidentally arrived in Las Vegas within an hour of each other late Saturday afternoon.

The fine looking gent on the right is Keith Beisner. He was first to arrive in his little sedan that was packed to the gills with furniture he’s moving from Salt Lake City to his recently purchased house in Tucson. He’s a semi-pro climber who’s stuck in the body of a struggling grad student. Luckily he’s on what looks like the final stretch and will hopefully be spending more time on his true passion: climbing & spending all his time outdoors.

My man Ben Reader is on the left. I call him either Benny or Benny-boy, it’s been that way since we met back in our college days. He showed up second after a few bad directions I gave him and sent him touring the greater Las Vegas area. Kristine, Keith, and I had gone into the nearby Borders to wait for him and sit and chat in a warm place. Kristine saw what could have been a homeless man walk up behind me and grab the back of my shoulders in the way only brothers do. I recognized the strong grip and stood to give my friend a warm hug. It has been months since I’d seen him last and he’s been fishing in Alaska, they almost lost the boat when they cracked the hull and barely made it back to shore, after the season was over he joined a crew and sailed down to San Francisco. He bought the Kawasaki he showed up on and he’s been touring the lower Western states until he sustained a fall while playing frisbee golf and has been soaking in hot springs to rejuvenate his hurt shoulder. He’s like wolverine and I’m sure will heal up in no time.
* Note: We would all look homeless if we rode a motorcycle across the country and didn’t groom in the conventional way.

That night we shared good wine, pumpkin beer, bratwursts, baked potatoes, and epic stories, all around a cozy fire. I learned of the cocoon that both my friends had recently emerged from. Keith had found his sense of community in Salt Lake City while exploring the great outdoor opportunities that Utah has to offer. He has recovered from a torn ankle something-or-rather. It’s been months of rehab and our friend was better than ever. His wife, Kim, found her dream job with the USGS and is waiting patiently for Keith to join her. Kristine and I will be heading down to Tucson for Thanksgiving and look forward to every minute we’ll spend with them!

I found Ben very happy. Happier than the last few times I’d seen him. He was finding his sense of self and living his life exactly like he wanted. He’s the free-est spirit I know and a true vagabond in the best way. He shared the sweetest strawberries with us that he had gotten from an underground source, he graciously shared his delicious bread he bought at a well-known bakery in Bishop, CA, he even had sage honey to top the bread with. He had two different types of chocolates that we relished as they made their way around the fire. It was like watching Marie Poppins as he pulled more and more exotic goods from his small stash on the back of his bike. Not sure where it was all coming from. He even wanted us to eat a pomegranate that wanted to be eaten, but which we just didn’t have the appetite for anymore. Crazy!

Here’s the family portrait. The picture on the left is the one taken for my Mom, and the one on the right includes the dubs-effect I strive to give every picture I’m in.

Benny got on the road early the next morning. Keith stayed to climb with us for the next two days. More to come on those adventures!

Party Pics: Milano Cookies & Belgian Beer

Don’t have anything respectable to say about these, except I promise it wasn’t as bad as it looks. It started out honest, just trying to warm up a bit with some delicious Beligium Beer.

The real culprit were the devilishly dark chocolate milano cookies!

But the combination killed it!

So you’re stuck with my pictures alone since at the time I couldn’t coax the camera into taking even a single incriminating picture of Kristine.