Truth

It's a gray day over the Nederland valley. Fog hangs low, shrouding the world and amplifying the sounds. If every day of summer was like today, I would have no qualms with it. I morning walk with Elaine, enjoying the frost clinging to the trees, the haunted lake, the enclosure, followed by a day of chores – taxes, dealing with student loans and, if I'm lucky, a little bit of writing. Today was for recon…to see if it's time to change skis for the bike. The results are in – it's not, at least not here. There are big drifts that are 10-14 days aways from being melted out even if it warms up significantly. So for now, I'll continue to ski.

It's an unfortunate reality of our situation, but sometimes Elaine and I have to deal with garbage that is quite discriminatory in nature. Yesterday in the sauna at the health club, when Elaine mentioned our relationship to somebody in there, she got the response of how this person, "hates it when an older guy is with a younger girl." Earlier this week, there was a debate about trails in Boulder on the newspaper, and I decided to pitch in. Somebody – who chose to post under an anonymous name – instead of commenting on the issues I brought up, tossed out the "pedophile" moniker on me. Nevermind the fact that any case that would have proven such was proven false, twice, under official investigation. They don't care – they just like to insult. I have come to the conclusion that the world is full of shit people, and most of those shit people are cowards. What fascinates me about this whole situation is how not one single person has actually had the guts to ask me about the situation face-to-face. Instead, they hide behind a shroud of silence, or an occassional lambasting email. I honestly think they are afraid, and I think this fear comes from the possibility that their now engrained belief may very well be wrong.

You are in this country innocent until proven guilty. And when you are proven innocent – twice in fact – you are, in reality, innocent. I have said from the beginning, and will continue to say – I will meet any person, we will both meet with you – and we will discuss this situation face-to-face, like adults. We will take what you have to say and listen, and in return we ask that you do the same. Furthermore, if any person out there would like a copy of the official documents pertaining to this case, unedited, I will provide them to you. Shoot me an email and the document will be in the mail the next day. We have nothing to hide, and we have the law to back us up.

This is not Salem in the 1600's. This is not the 8th grade gossip rumor. If you want to attack my position on trails, fine. I'm up for that debate. But to bring something completely unrelated into the conversation, that is, in truth, false – well, I think that says more about you than it does about me.

The thread can be found here. It's on the third page of the comments section. I'm under the name "galacticpilot." You have to read the whole thread to understand the comment – it's now listed under somebody who deleted their name a day later – "deleted9390187." His (or her) original name was "ridge2011." 

Ridge2011 – whoever you are, please expose yourself. Show some guts. Of course there will be no violence because that's not who we are, but we will discuss it with you, and it may become a lively discussion. Maybe we shouldn't care what other people think. But we do, because we don't believe we did anything wrong. And if it takes dealing with each and everyone of the naysayers, one-by-one, until the truth gets out, then we will. In all honesty, it wears on you. A lot. I feel tired, and not in a "I need more sleep way," but a much deeper, to the core tired. A tired I've never felt before in my life. But I guess in life, it's what's you do when you're tired, when you're sick of the fight, that matters.