To Engage, or Not To Engage

Edit: To those who subscribe via email and noticed a typo in my spelling of 'suddenly', apologies. I hope you're not too put off.

The Instagram break over the last few days has been nice. If you came from Instagram, it's because Meta owns everything, and linked accounts have done some behind-the-scenes magic. After my last blog post, a friend reached out to sell me her camera (thanks, Julia!), so please enjoy seeing more original photography in these blogs. I'm still learning, but I've enjoyed taking macro photos and figuring out what all the extra buttons do. My hope is to graduate into getting non-blurry images of my dog or bike riders soon. Still, for now, my skills have me relegated to working with subjects with nearly unlimited patience.

Now, onto the main show.

In life, I often choose not to engage for my own health and sanity. It's a lot easier to intake inconsequencial happenings and compress them until they're barely a passing thought. If that sentence is too wispy for you to read like it was for me to type, allow me to introduce the below scenarios I found myself in over the weekend.

I went to Walgreens to pick up some photos and run a quick errand. The weather was foul, but I rode a couple of miles from home to get some movement in on a ghastly Saturday evening. I got my photos, grabbed a few small items, and qued behind the checkout. As I approached the counter and asked for stamps, the woman working indicated that I was in the wrong line, and stamps were sold on the other side. I looked at the customer behind me, signaling that I was moving and that the counter was open. He looked dazed, but I wasn't observant enough to get any real details. The man, with armfuls of heavy liquor, then walked past the counter and out of the front door. One of the tellers sprang into action, chasing him down, and, from what I saw, was unsuccessful in returning any of the liquor to the store. When the woman came back, she mentioned something about how she "recognized that asshole" and was visibly frustrated. Unscathed, I quickly got my stamps and left, making a quick but rattled assessment that the workers weren't compensated nearly well enough to get into an altercation with a petty thief. If there is a positive from the experience, it's that at least the thief stole from a chain and not an equally equipped local liquor store.

On a similar note, Crystal and I were shopping for Christmas gifts at Sierra (formerly Sierra Trading Post, a wholesale store for gear, home goods, and more) earlier that day. We wandered for half an hour, grabbing some small goods and comfort items for loved ones before heading to the checkouts. The store was fully staffed, with all the store managers, floor managers, and assistant managers present, and it made sense considering the upcoming holiday. As we were checking out, we heard a shrill beep, and subsequently, the teller noted, "Walk-out. Large hoodie." while the store manager made a quick report on her machine. Thankfully, we did not have to witness an employee chase down the patron for the stolen merchandise. Quite the difference in approach, and I certainly felt more comfortable with Sierra's response as a customer. Sure, the action might have been the same: a petty thief walking out with petty goods, but it's not worth escalating for the sake of cheaply made objects.

I wanted to get those two scenarios of engagement (or unengagement) on paper so that I could introduce a third type of engagement, the romantic one.

Crystal and I got engaged over the weekend.

It's a little scary and a lot exciting. We watched The Princess Bride to celebrate (among other things).

Though we have no plans to get married anytime soon, it's officially on the docket, and we're both looking forward to celebrating with everyone in the not-so-distant future.

At the behest of our wonderful on-site photographer, Tyler, I proposed in beautiful Whatcom Falls Park. Crystal and I have spent so much of our time there since moving to Bellingham a couple of years ago, and it made complete sense to do it surrounded by nature so close to home. We'll have professional photos of the proposal to share soon, and I think you'll all appreciate Crystal's choice of pants. After fretting for so many weeks that it would be obvious, the pajama pants she wore on our afternoon walk confirmed that I had done well to hide my agenda. Thankfully, she said yes, and I'll continue to replay her initial reaction in my head for the rest of my life.

The above photos are not Tylers, I promise he's a much better (and faster) photographer.

Please reach out if you're interested in connecting with Tyler. He's an extremely patient and practiced photographer who helps make any moment memorable.

Other Events of Note

I am an influencer! – My often-referenced friend Brent restarted his blog! If you enjoy reading my ramblings, I encourage you to add his blog to your feed. He adds a plethora of whimsicle writing that I'm sure you'll appreciate with your morning coffee. If you're not interested in the words, at least subscribe for the creative naming convention, "The Deadbeat Triathlete," referencing his commitment to a past life of solitary training and pissing on himself.

Aspire has some work to do. – The second iteration of the Aspire race series happened on Saturday morning, with runners signing up for the 6.5 or 11.5-mile event. Though I genuinely enjoy the Aspire series and often encourage friends to participate, they haven't impressed me with these first two events. The first weekend saw the short course runners on course for far too long, as a missing course marker delivered an extra 3 miles and 1000' of vertical ascent. This weekend wasn't much better, with the organization making the last-minute (and unannounced) decision to cut the short course from 6.5 to 5.5 miles. The long course was also mismarked this week, and runners clocked in anywhere from 10 to 14 miles because of the mistake. This is not some "chip in $10 for beer" event that the local community hosts; we're all paying $30-$40 per race, and for that price and dedication to walk or bike up to the start (no vehicles are allowed on Galbraith), I expect better. I'll keep doing the races, but the on-course confusion continues to sully the apres. 

Even with the shorter course, I ended up 2nd overall (short course race), finishing in a little over 45 minutes. Crystal wasn't far behind with her 11th place finish (4th women) of 97 starters!

Coming up – Another edition of Cascade Cross! I very much enjoy this race series. It's the most mountain bike version of cyclocross that I know exists and has proven to be a great way to spend these dreary Saturdays. Not only will I get to race and watch friends race, but I'll also get to practice my photography on some moving subjects. Brent and I are locked in a tight battle for the local single-speed crown, and I've got a bit of a lead that I'm unwilling to let go of now that we're halfway through the season. This weekend, we'll be racing at Lutherwood Park off of Lake Samish (apologies, I've been telling everyone it's across from Larabee).

Exciting times in Casey & Crystal land. Thanks for being a part of it :)