HASHES OF THE MORNING AFTER

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The headline is meant to evoke a state of soul and spirit the day
after going hard, both on and off the ice.  The hard truth the morning
after often forces us to examine decisions we made the night before,
and that we must live with until the next encounter.  As I sit perched
above The Main, watching the ants scurry about at the foot of my
building, I'm struggling to emerge from the fog.

It's not only a dampened spirit, but the worn down body, that reminds
us that we're no longer 20 and the accumulation of injuries, of
fractures and tears, start to catch up to us, in spite of our best
efforts. My realty is reflected in many of you who, in different
places, spent many years playing our sport, which is tattooed on our
DNA, like warriors who return to the front without regard for the next
day, their body or their health.  There is a  cost to the abuse that
we endure. The benefits of giving body and soul to our love and our
passion, is priceless like the song says.

It's in the moments of grace, the morning after when all is calm,
where everything seems in harmony with the dream and we feel the good
fortune of having the freedom to live life fully, and not just as a
function of the systems put in place to control us.

Some may find that I am out-of-bounds of the sporting nature of this
site with my line of introspection. You may be right, but I would
invite you to slow the rhythm of your life, with our invasive
technologies and the multiplication of responsibilities imposed on us.
Just don't wait for "last call" to find your own path to peace.

Be good, and enjoy the ride while you can ;)

JFD (AS TRANSLATED BY LES PERREAUX)