The Kid In The Candy Store

The next two weeks are the 4wheelbob equivelent of a major holiday. We all celebrate The Season in different ways, though. For some, it's sitting on the couch and watching college basketball or pre - season baseball. Others will start getting the garden ready, planting, trimming; maybe you'll clean the house, or the garage....

Not me. After all, it's The Holidays.

Sunday marks the start of Daylight Savings Time, perhaps the most useful creation ever to spring from Congress. The following weekend, or shortly thereafter to be precise, Spring will, well, it'll spring. Wildflowers and animals will be everywhere. As the mountains warm, the snow will melt, filling reservoirs and clearing the way for some high altitude 4wheelbob cruises. And every night, thanks to that extra hour of daylight as well as the lengthening days, will be an opportunity to cruise my beloved trails.

I'm already getting a big time itch for those long, late days. The middle of June will come all too soon, and the longest day of the year will pass as if on a surly wind if we don't take up the call to arms. Get off the couch. Grab the dog, kids, husband or wife and go outside. Leave the car (and save the gas!) and take a walk.

Sunday...Daylight Savings Day...I'll be out as early as I can get up, and will be out somewhere until the darkness returns. So many trails, so little time. Maybe I'll finally do the Coyote Creek Trail from Morgan Hill to Sunnyvale or Milpitas and back. Maybe the Iron Horse Regional Trail, a long standing favorite. Maybe Mt. Diablo's North Peak, a summit I enjoy like few others.

The point is - it doesn't matter. I could tell you about the things you're likely to see but that would ruin your fun. Think renewal, freshness, wonder and amazement. Nature will be just getting warmed up. Watching the transition from winter's stark beauty to spring's restoration and celebration of life will have you in awe if you have a soul. It's free, too....why go anywhere else?

The first day of spring follows a week later, and will almost be anticlimactic. We'll have had a week of late daylight, and the wildflowers will bust out between now and May or June. Our green hills will call us out, to look closely at the tiny flowers that begin the color show at ground level. Mom Nature will put together color shows, the likes of which cannot be duplicated by fashion designers or any other pretentious human endeavors.

And again, I'll be on a trail, rain or shine. The Diblo Trail Challenge run will be March 19 at Castle Rock Regional Park, a perfect way to welcome spring whether it warms or it's gray and damp. You'll see me out there Saturday as well as Sunday while I sit and listen to the springtime jazz concert coming from the birds of the season. Find me, get in touch if you've never experienced this, and I'll take you there. Because everywhere will hold zillions of wonders, beckoning us to enjoy.

Tis the holiday season, after all. It's ours, all of ours to take in. I'm back in the gym getting ready for some really epic early season hikes and climbs. Some won't last as long as others, but the universal reaction will be that of the kid in the candy store - so many good things to take in, to see, to hear, to smell.....and just enough time to be filled with the experiences. Join me. Come out, come along. Get your Spring self on - this is a season unmatched over the coursing of the calendar! See you out there!