Bump In The Road

There is a bump on Ray Road.  It has no hidden agenda.  It harbors no ill feelings toward anyone.  It doesn’t think about those passing over it day after day. It’s not doing anything differently today than it has for the past few years.  It’s just a bump, an aberration on the asphalt. This bump has changed lives.

May 14, 2007 and the 2002 Honda CBR hit the bump. The same bump that this same Honda had traveled over many times.  But May 14 was different. What was different?  I don’t know.  Same rider, same bike, same bump; different day. Front tire wobbling handlebars slamming back and forth. Bike tumbling.  Rider thrown.  The asphalt catching the rider. Slashed fingers, broken ribs, broken shoulder blade, fractured knee, skin torn.  Mom and child in stroller safe on sidewalk. Indian music playing on iPod. Panic, calm, confusion, wonder.  Rider off bike but now carried in a helicopter.

I wish I could have a chat with that bump in the road. I’d like to have a Q&A session with it.  I’d ask it what it had against my friend Bill. Why Bill, why not kick a bicyclist off his ride resulting in less damage, not the months of rehab Bill had after his crash.  Would the bump blame the front tire? Would the bump even care?  I doubt it.

I’d like to have a chat with the snow outside of Winter Park, Colorado. In 1988 my friend Davy and I were driving along a mountain pass and our car lost traction and we began sliding toward a steep decent.  Certainly we would have been injured if not killed.  But the tires and the snow had a conversation.  The snow let the tires grip and our car stopped.  We’d been given a reprieve.

I’d also like to have an interview with the cancer cells that killed my dog Sammy last year. I’d like to hurt those cells; beat them with a heavy phone book and make them suffer. Waterboard them. I’d get answers out of them.  But those cells are tough, I doubt they would give up any answers or tell me anything that the bump couldn’t.  Which is absolutely nothing. 

Maybe Sammy’s cancer cells would tell me to chat with the malaria that suddenly killed my friend Jan in 1992. Perhaps the Malaria would have me check in with the malaria pills Jan had stopped taking weeks after her return from Africa. The pills would cry that they could have saved her.  They would have done it if they could. If only…

These bumps in the road are frustrating.  They are out there everywhere.  You can’t see them coming until you’ve hit them.  Sure you’d do things differently if you could.  You’d drive a different route, you’d take the pills, you’d get a better vet, you’d slow down.  But you didn’t. And you can’t go back.  Damage done.

Last night we had another bump in life’s road. A trip to the emergency vet to see what was happening to Luka.  He was feverish, drooling constantly, eyes watering, discolored tongue, acting funny.  Renal failure? Valley fever?  What was the problem?  We did not know.  The vet told us to come right in and we did.

Luka had his checkup.  The vet checked his mouth, took his temperature, took blood.  We waited an hour for the verdict.  We were called into examining room no. 1 for the results.  This was the exact same room where Sammy had died just a year earlier.  Luka was sitting in the exact place where Sammy died when the vet entered the room to tell us the results.

We were fortunate. Luka is fine.  No internal problems.  He had a problem with his mouth that caused the tongue discoloration and drooling. The problem was minor.  On the way home I started thinking about the bump on Ray Road and decided that the bump does have something to say.  If it could talk it would tell us something.

Cherish life. Cherish those you love. Do those things you intend to do.  Don’t waste your time. Don’t get distracted. Pet your dog.

Thanks for the insight Bump.  Perhaps next time you could just give us a gentle reminder instead of tossing my friend over the handlebars or killing my dog.  Jerk.

Posted by Mark Wallace Posted in: Dogumentary, Events, Luka, Motorcycles, Random Stuff No Comments » December 2007

Transition

>You may have noticed that my blog and photoentries have decreased in the past month or so, well now I can tell you why! The bottom line, I’ve been really busy.  Not only busy, but going throughbittersweet life.Most importantly I’m happy to tell the world that Diane and I are getting married! Getting married is glorious, but it’s been consuming all of our time. We decided to get married a couple of months ago, I’m not sure when, I thinkwe made the decision while I was in India. There was not big proposal or event, I’m not even sure how to explain it. But we made the decision and we are very happy about it.We were going to keep our wedding details a secret, but Diane forgot all about thatthe moment we chose a date.  But that’s another story and I’ll lether tell you about it at some point.  Our official wedding date is October 8th– a week from this Saturday!  Woohoo!Once we decided to get married we made a mental list of all the things we’dneed to do before we could have the ceremony.  The first big item was to findhomes for Diane’s cats; Toaster and Mossimo.  We looked for months butcould not find any homes.  Last weekend we took them to a shelter in North Phoenixthat will have the means to locate good parents for them.  It was a very, verysad moment.  Diane has had her kitties for 6 years.  Moving the cats tomy house was not an option because of the dogs.  So we did what we thought wasbest.  But we will miss our furry friends.The second big item was selling Diane’s house.  Before we could put iton the market we had to do some work on the back yard.  So we put in a drip system,planted new plants and a tree, had curbing added, and shoveled 3 tons of decorativerock.  The yard really looks great now.  Once that was finished the housewas listed.  We thought we’d it would take a week or two to sell - it soldin 12 hours.The third big thing was moving Diane’s stuff out of her house.  Not onlymoving, but fixing all the little things the new owners requested in the contract– fix a leak here, replace a circuit breaker there, adjust the sliding glassdoor, etc.  The past two weekends have been spent packing, cleaning, fixing,and hauling.All of the new stuff at my place means that my house is in total chaos. My garage is full of boxes and furniture and odds and ends.  But I finally havesome art on my walls.  The house is filling up with Diane, it’s awesome. Now we just need to figure out who’s furniture to keep and what to sell.During all of this change my Jeep decided to die.  Awesome timing!  Thanksto Cecil forlending us his truck to move the big stuff, we would have been sunk without the help. Saturday I replaced the radiator, thermostat, and serpentine belt on the jeep. I thought the water pump might need to be replaced too, but I decided to see if thenew radiator/thermostat would do the trick.  Nope – I still need a newwater pump.  So I’ll be doing that sometime soon.Did I mention I started a new photography class two weeks ago?  That’sright, I’m teaching a new class for this fall.  I have 13 students andwe are meeting two hours a week at Barnes & Noble in Gilbert.  It’sa lot of fun and I’m really enjoying it.But that’s not all!  (I feel like a steak knife commercial).  I’vealso been invited to join the IndependentPhotography Network.  I got my contract today and my submissions will belive next month.  It’s a great honor but also a lot of work choosingand categorizing all of the photos.During all of this excitement I learned that some good friends, Brandonand Denise, are moving to Oregon. The Bohlings have been a constant source of inspiration and encouragement to me duringthe past three years.  Diane and I were talking about how much we are going tomiss our friends.  Brandon and I talk a lot about photography, trade ideas, andbounce questions off each other.  Denise always has a fresh perspective on life. And they both love good food and great wine.  I’ll miss running to YenMi to eat Pho andget lost in conversation.It was the Bohlings who invited me to hikethe Grand Canyon, encouraged me to become more involved in photography, showedme parts of the world I’ve never been to, taught me about spro,and made the daily grind more enjoyable.  I’ll miss you guys!There is even more than that going on, but I’ll stop for now.  I don’thave time to tell you about Diane’s college classes or my crazy schedule atwork this week.  I’ll be in Portland tomorrow night and Wednesday. Maybe I’ll have time to post some more thoughts while I’m at the hotelor on the plane.Until then, enjoy life – love your pets and cherish your friends.  Eachday is a blessing.

Posted by admin Posted in: Events, Family Stuff, News No Comments » September 2005

2004 Breast Cancer 3-Day

My friend Christy Smith will be walking in a very special event called the BreastCancer 3-Day.  She will be walking 60 miles in those three days.  This isa very worthy cause.  If you’d like to help out, please visitChristy’s web site.  She’s pledged to raise $2,000.  Let’s break thatgoal!!Clickhere to go the Christy’s website.

It is estimated that 39,800 women and 400 men will die because ofbreast cancer in 2003. One in eight women in the United States will contract the diseaseduring her lifetime. My goal is to help end these statistics.

Copied from: 2004Breast Cancer 3-Day - General Donation

Posted by admin Posted in: Charity, Events No Comments » July 2004

What’s going on?

If you’ve noticed that my blog entries are getting fewer and fewer it’s because I’vebeen busier and busier.  Here are a few things that have happened in the pastcouple of weeks:

• Cecil’s daughter Brandy was married!  I was able to go to the wedding and shootsome video for her.  It was a great experience.
• My friend Jacqueline is finally back home after spending months in Philidelphia filmingHack.  Diane, Dana, and I were able to meet her for a quick lunch and catch up. John is out of town right now, but we plan on seeing him again too.
• I’m still working on my short film.  My script ideas are coming together. I’m just beginning to work on the first draft and suspect it’s going to take a whileto get it all finished.  This could become a big time burner.
• Desiree and Jim got married!  My good friend Desiree was married a coupleof weeks ago.  It was a wonderful wedding and it was a blast to be a partof it.  Once again I was able to shoot some video and am working on her DVD.
• Sean and Jamie got married!  Yeay!  This happened last weekend.  Theywere married at the Phoenix Desert Botanical Gardens.  Diane and I really hadfun at this wedding.  I really enjoyed hearing “Peanuts” being played as Seanand Jamie walked out as a new couple.

I’ve also been shooting a lot with my camera, working on my yard (I have new plantsin my front yard), and trying to keep up with a busy schedule at work.So now you know the latest scoop.  Tell me what’s up with you!

Posted by admin Posted in: Events, Film Project No Comments » April 2004

Wait, Wait… don’t tell me.

Tonight Diane and I are going to the Arizona Biltmore to hang out with the cast ofthe NPR show, “Wait, Wait… don’ttell me.”  Tomorrow night we have VIP seating for the recording of the Phoenixshow.  Very cool!  Diane got the tickets for us for Valentines Day. Awesome.

Posted by admin Posted in: Events, Humor, News No Comments » February 2004

Racquetball at Freestone Rec Center

 We will be playing racquetball on Wednesday, September 24th, at the FreestoneRecreation Center.  Games will begin at 6:30 pm.  Freestone is locatedon Guadalupe Rd. between Lindsey and Val Vista.  Please bring your own racquet!

• Racquetball Central
• Official Racquetball Rules

Freestone has a lot of options for those of you who don’t play racquet ball, including:

• climbing wall
• walking/running track
• basketball
• arobics

Mapto Freestone Recreation Center

Posted by admin Posted in: Events, Sports No Comments » September 2003

Ride to Payson, AZ

 Calling all Phoenix area bikers!  There is a ride Sunday morning, September 21st,  toPayson, AZ.  We will be meeting at the gas station by Fort McDowell Casino (it’son hiway 87 just north of Shea Blvd.) at 7:30 am.  The ride is good for beginnersand advance riders alike.  It’s about 45 miles of gently curving road. All bikes are welcome.The plan is to ride to Payson and have breakfast at The Small Cafe.  After somegood food and coffee we’ll return.  Some may choose to continue north to WoodsCanyon Lake or ChristopherCreek.Clickhere for a map of the meeting point.

Posted by admin Posted in: Events, Motorcycles No Comments » September 2003