I love summer…or Triathlon Season as I now call it.
The sun comes up at 5:11am and sets at 9:11pm. It’s light when I get up early and it’s still light when I take the puppy out at 10pm.
The light energizes me and I feel at my most inspired, motivated and creative best this time of year. Summers here are glorious and this is payback for the darkness of November and December in the Northwest.
On the Solstice, I played saxophone on a float in the Fremont Solstice Parade with a ten-piece Brazilian/Funk band backing a large Samba dance troupe. Rolling down the street playing for thousands of euphoric people lining the street was a blast! But aside from this and a little honking with the Seattle Women’s Jazz Orchestra, my attention is elsewhere this summer.
My goal is to participate in one sprint Triathlon per month this summer. The Five Mile Lake Women’s Triathlon last week was a good start to the season. I’m signed up for Iron Girl in August and I’m looking at a few more. Sprint Tri’s consist of a quarter- to half-mile swim, a 12-15 mile bike ride, and a 3.1 mile run. I’m still a very enthusiastic newbie and I’m a long way off from thinking about the longer distances.
I’m planning to participate in some open water swim events too…the first is a one-mile swim at Greenlake next week. The open water swim portion of the Tri really intimidates a lot of people but it’s my favorite part. I’m looking forward to testing myself on the 1-2 miles distances in the lakes around here. Plus there’s plenty of opportunity for biking and running too.
Another thing I’m looking forward to is being the volunteer staff photographer for the Gender Odyssey Conference again this year.
Last year was an amazing experience on many levels and I have an even deeper appreciation for the “T” and “Q” in my LGBTQ community. I’m inspired by their courage in living a gender-authentic life and I consider trans rights issues to be the cutting edge of civil rights these days. I learned a lot about my place on the gender identity spectrum, gained a new sense of confidence in my non-feminine, cis-woman gender expression…and I learned a ton about photographing people at an event like this.
Then there are the big questions:
Will I go to California Brazil Camp? Or actually go to Brazil?
Will I ever hunker down and re-design my portfolio website? Uh…yup, it’s at the top of my list.
More will be revealed!