Eunice Reiter - Retired

 

The opening picture is a sunrise.  A sunset would be more appropriate, but it was in the wee hours of the morning that I was driving from Austin to Houston to help mom close her office.  Mom is finally retiring. 

Mom has always worked.  It does not seem remarkable now, but in the 1960’s, not many women had careers outside of nursing and teaching.  My grade school friends had moms that volunteered as “room mothers”, bringing treats and decorations for holidays.  Those moms where home when their kids got out of school.  Our upbringing was different.  Dad traveled extensively (also unusual for parents in those days, but this is about Mom).  Daycare was non-existent back then, so Mom hired housekeepers fill in the gaps while she and Dad worked.  We were rather feral, but didn’t die. 

I can’t imagine what it must have been like in those days for a woman with children and personal aspirations.  When she was pregnant with my brother, my dad would go get her paycheck so her boss would not see her. Once she really started to show, she had to quit.  Pregnant women were not allowed in the workplace.  Nothing like adding additional financial stress to a growing family. 

Mom is a tax accountant.  I say is because she kept a couple of clients.  Our lives literally revolved around tax season.  Brother Joe was born in May.  I was born in August.  I’ll bet my mom was super pissed to find out Elaine was going to be born in January.  I can’t, or don’t ”its tax season” was ingrained in our DNA. 

 Memories:

·        Mom was (is) super put together; professionally dressed at all times.  I did not inherit this sense of style and  dignity.  It’s a pandemic and I’m happy to wear 2-day old “daytime pajamas”

·        There used to be a television show in Houston where people could call in and ask tax questions.  We would sit in front of the TV for hours hoping to catch a glimpse of our famous mom.  I don’t recall the exact setup, but we could only see her skirt hem and legs occasionally walk by. 

·        During tax season, Mom worked late and 6 days a week.  Somehow on Saturdays, she managed to work and get her hair done and get the grocery shopping done for the week.  Those Saturdays, Dad was in charge.  Typing this I can’t recall a time where he was out of the country on a tax season Saturday, but surely it must have happened.  Gawd knows what we did if he was gone.  When he was home, there was a fabulous rotation of easy food or take out to keep us fed; Jack in the box where the clown gave us balloons, Antone’s po-boys - we had to go with Dad here to make sure we didn’t end up with tuna sandwiches as all the different ones were color coded and he was color blind.  BBQ of course and cooking at home meant kosher hot dogs. 

·        Our house had a formal living room but no formal dining table.  Mom set up a desk there.  I remember many a night going to sleep to the sound of that crank style adding machine as she ran tapes late into the night. 

·        Kids winning tax season – when Mom would bring home mainframe computer tape and punch cards for us to play with.  Punch cards turned into play school flash cards or to attach like playing cards to bike spokes.  I remember using the tape once to come out of a cardboard robot’s mouth with words written on it. 

 Fun memories of a career that I’m sure was not easy.  To you mom.  This April, do what ever you want! xo

5 1/4 Floppy Disk  Still uses this software today

Her computer CD drive is broken but this is the OS

Instructions for mainframe punch operator - hands up if you even know what that means!

Last load

Oh wait!  One more thing.

One last moment before the door is locked with the keys inside

Boxes, bags, chairs oh my!

The scariest moment of my life.  Plugging in that DOS computer and praying it booted up!

Ok Mom.  Rest is up to you

Dave Blumenthal

I’ve wanted to blog for a while.  Out for a hike or long bike ride, streams of consciousness flow by that I promptly forget about by the time I get home.  But I marked today on my calendar knowing I’d want to make this blog post. 

In the summer of 2010 I was researching how to accomplish a race that would change my life.  I wanted to do the Tour Divide race from Canada to Mexico in 2011.  If you are here, then you’ve likely read my accounts of the various exploits. 

Today, there are so many gear makers, gear reviews and detailed gear lists easily available with a simple Google search.  Almost nothing of the sort existed in 2010.  Riders relied heavily on posts in the old-school (still in use) http://www.bikepacking.net/forum/.  There were no how-to websites detailing everything a rookie needed to know from gear to re-supply.  You painstakingly researched everything on your own.  I was doing just this when I came across the blog of Dave Blumenthal https://type2fun.wordpress.com/   

Dave was preparing to do the Tour Divide race in 2010.  In his blog, he documented his do-it-yourself (DIY) bike bags, sleeping kit and setup.  I went back to his blog often.  Zooming in on pictures to see how he designed this or that, or how he mounted his GPS or his lights... 

On this day, 10 years ago, the following post was made on the Tour Divide website: http://tourdivide.org/blog2010/memory_dave_blumenthal

Dave was gone.  An accident just past Brush Mountain Lodge in Colorado.

A year later, SheilaT and I made our way on CR 82/116 and gratefully, the Brush Mountain Lodge came into view.  We’d traveled 86 miles from Rawlings WY and the iconic lodge was our destination.  As we approached, I saw people sitting on a covered deck and all were wearing matching cowboy flannel pajamas.  My first thought was wow, everyone here gets matching pajamas!  How cool! 

Of course, that was not the case.  It was Dave’s family.  They had come to the lodge, a beautiful and welcoming place run by the immensely loving Kirsten Hendricksen.  They wanted to be at this place on the year anniversary of his passing. 

That evening as riders gathered around the table, Dave’s wife Lexi joined us.  We told stories and ate our fill.  Then, in the morning, SheilaT and I left, cognizant that we would be passing the location of Dave’s accident.  The rigors of the divide quickly took our attention, but we took thoughts of Dave and his family with us.

Now it is 10 years on.  Christopher Bennett has been collecting Tour Divide stories each year since and publishing the Cordillera, the proceeds of which have gone to a college fund for Dave and Lexi’s daughter Linnaea. 

I just wanted to put Dave’s name out into the universe today.  Ride in peace Dave and thank you for helping to light the way.

Great Basin  Photo by Dave Blumenthal