Hopes and dreams for summer 2026

I don’t really do resolutions, but I think there’s something useful about writing down what you actually want before the season gets away from you. Summer in Minneapolis is short enough that if you don’t show up for it, it’s October before you’ve noticed.

Last summer I had a broken nose and nasal strips and a lot of time sitting still that I didn’t ask for. This summer I’m coming in with both nostrils working and a decent amount of motivation to make up for it, which feels like a good starting position.

On the bike front, I want to do more of the stuff I actually signed up for cycling to do — alley cats, group rides, maybe a gravel event if the season cooperates. I tend to underplan the fun stuff and overplan the commute stuff, which is a habit I’d like to flip at least a few times this year. I also have the grand idea to go bike camping alone with Mabel at some point. She doesn’t have too many years left and I’d like to get out there together and just get away from it all for a while.

Socially I’m hoping to keep the momentum going on the things that don’t organize themselves — Wildcat is coming up quick and I enjoy helping out there any way I can. Even just being a resource for the sound system and trailer is good enough for me–everyone has their part to make it all come together.

On the creative side, I want to play more shows and spend more time actually making things rather than just maintaining the infrastructure that lets me make things. There’s a version of the homelab that becomes an end in itself, and I’d rather it stay a means.

Mostly I just want a summer that I can account for at the end of it. Not optimized — I don’t think that’s a useful frame for time off — but present for. The kind where you run into someone in October and you can actually tell them what you did.

That’s probably enough to hold myself to.