Where do I live?

“Where do I live?” This question popped into my head as I was navigating the icy and narrow boot trail along the Kim Williams Trail. It was one of those typical Missoula days – cold, but full of adventure. I stopped to capture the moment with my cell phone, a quick snap of the frosty trail ahead, and shared it with the world on Twitter.

My journey for the day was set to take 5 hours, not because of the distance or the terrain, but simply because my training plan said so. It’s funny how we let these little digital schedules dictate our lives, isn’t it?

Earlier, I rode into town with my friend Mo. We stopped to help our friend Karen with her ‘Keep Missoula Warm’ project on Higgins Bridge. “We are calling it ‘Keep Missoula Warm’ … ” Karen explained. She’s a local artist and came up with this heartwarming idea with her boyfriend, Arlan.

After lending a hand, I left the group and rode East. A predetermined turnaround time prompted me to stop for another Twitter post. After the social act (or as the kids call it, ‘twittering’), I turned my trusty Mukluk around to head back and pick up Mo, who wanted to ride the rest of the day with me.

As I climbed back aboard my Mukluk, a realization hit me. Most of my outdoor daylight hours are spent in Missoula. You can’t count hours spent working indoors because you are not living. The only time you are living is when you are outdoors, breathing the air, and taking in your surroundings as we were meant to be as animals … er … humans.

You can’t count night hours either because you are not living. You’re just blindly following a light beam around. To live is to take in life. Seeing life. Breathing life. Most of my outdoor daylight hours are spent in Missoula. So I guess you can say I live in Missoula and work in Bozeman. Maybe someday we will move to Bozeman. That would be cool, wouldn’t it?