from the cabin: Bergen Hawkeye at Lost Valley

He doesn’t know I am watching him.

My fourteen year old son.

I’m on the porch, settled on the porch swing. Basha blanket from home wrapped around me because of the surprisingly low temperatures. Hot tea in a Lost Valley mug by my side. Pen. Notebook. It’s all good.

He’s well below the cabin. Waiting for his friend to exit his cabin and to join him in some wild outdoor adventure of their own design.

He’s got some pole with a red rope attached to the end.

He’s whipping it around.

Occasionally hitting himself.

Grinning.

Content and absolutely present in his own life.

Bergen is a master at creativity. 

Simple tricks and tactics to make his own life easier.

He’s been crafting Life Hacks before the phrase ever reached trend status.

Here at the ranch one hack is this:

Our cabin is up a long series of uneven steps. It’s high altitude Colorado air we are breathing. His goal is to make the trip up those steps as infrequently as possible. (Despite the fact that he is the most fit human in our household.) One of his tried and true methods for Step Avoidance is to leave his extra shoes in the Lost & Found baskets by the Ranch House. This way he can wear his tennis shoes to play in the afternoon and his cowboy boots for the rides. All without ever walking the steps to change his shoes like the suckers we all are.

Clever boy.

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