I have a new blogging technique. I just look at old digital photos we have stored on our computer, pick one, and think of something to say about it.

Last fall we visited Maui. Nice place; it’s what Southern California would like to be.

While we were there, we rode bicycles down the Haleakala volcano (the outside of the mntn, not the crater itself). When I say we “rode” bicycles, please bear in mind that this was all downhill, so basically we just put on motorcycle helmets, got on the bikes and tried to not fall off as we coasted 20-plus miles down the mountain.

To do this thing, you have to get up at 1:00 a.m. (in the MORNING), get picked up by a van, driven to one location where the bikes are loaded onto the van, and then drive a long ways up the 11,000 or so feet to the top of the mountain. There are lots of reasons why people go through all this, but one of the main reasons is to see the sunrise, in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, at the top of this mountain.

Now here’s the thing a lot of people don’t think about…

Maui is beautiful, warm and sunny. Except on top of an 11,000 foot mountain. Up there, it’s a lot like the top of many 11,000 foot mountains. It’s windy, cold, and 30 freakin’ degrees!!!

So I was tired and grumpy from the 1:00 a.m. thing, freezing cold from wearing shorts and thinking a little windbreaker suit would keep me warm, and basically just not having fun.

But, here’s the life lesson of today’s blog.

Sometimes you have to deal with this…

…in order to eventually see this…