The Baltimorian Escapades of Rachel and Allison

I just returned to cold, cloudy Missoula from cold, sunny Baltimore. So much for spring! Baltimore went from 80-degree weather the weekend BEFORE I arrived to an average of, oh, 37 degrees for the six days of my stay. Go figure.


But we did not let the chilly air negatively influence our activities! We toured Baltimore, from the Inner Harbor to Fort McHenry to Hamden, spent a day in D.C., took walks, cooked delectable dishes (pizza. whole grain waffles with strawberries. roast beef. brussel sprouts. crepes. pumpkin stew. mmm.), drank gallons of hot tea, ate pints of mint chip ice cream, and ate out at various quirky restaurants. Among other things . . .


Rach and Kara's neighborhood (this isn't their street, but it's close by, and aren't the colors splendid?):





























Rach and I looking gorgeous, as usual:




























And . . . oh my, what's this?! Where art thou sitting, oh Rachel? And what's that on thy foot?







































But she wasn't the only one . . . what IS that on my back? Oh dear! What is this place into which we wandered?







































It appears to be some sort of peculiar art studio . . .
a body art studio . . .







































But is that a pen or a (gasp!) needle?































Oh my goodness oh me oh my oh!!


What HAVE we done to ourselves?


One may not think it possible that Rach and I could be any more gorgeous than we already are, but we now have evidence to the contrary.







































Branded beauties, we are!


Hee hee hee . . . I do so love new acquisitions.

Off to Baltimore!!

In an hour my roomie is going to take me to the airport . . . from there I shall fly to Denver, and then to Baltimore, and run into the waiting arms of three good friends. Ilhamdulillah!

I thought I might go to work for a couple of hours this morning. Ha. Ha. Ha. Updating my blog is SO much more useful.

So, a few pictures:

Long afternoon sunlight out my window:
















And . . . pics from the hot springs trip last weekend! A few fellow EVSTers and I drove out to Idaho to camp overnight near the hot springs. What a marvelous idea. I have planned, several times before this, to go to the hot springs, but each and every time the plan has fallen through. Needless to say, I was thrilled that this trip actually happened! We sat in the springs for five hours until we were completely pruny, relaxed, and content, eating olives, baguettes, and cheese, and sipping our wine and kahlua. The moon was nearly full, the sky was clear, the air was cool, and the water was oh, so warm. Mmm.

Hiking across the Lochsa River:















Camping in the snow:















The waterfall pool, which was overrun by snowmelt and thus a little too cold for basking in:















The crew on the bridge on our way out, enjoying a few more moments of fragrant pine air:
















Look for tales of Baltimore escapades (heh, heh) soon to be coming!

Sunday, Rainy Sunday . . .

I like the rain, like watching the dim curtains of mist wash across the Missoula Valley, smelling the soil as the rain soaks in, smelling the freshness, anticipating the new life. It is spring--spring!!--and the rivers are running higher, swifter; the buds are pushing out of the dark tips of branches; and the birds are weaving their canopies of song above me as I walk to work or school.

But rainy days like today are perfect for curling up on the couch, with warm yellow lamps pooling light around me, a fuzzy blanket tucked around my legs, and my laptop on my lap. Perhaps, if I feel so inclined, I will make myself a cup of tea as I sit here reading and writing this afternoon.

Spring break. Doesn't FEEL much like spring break, since all it means is that I get to work even MORE this week, with no inconvenient classes taking up my time, but already I'm feeling more relaxed. Though I suppose it's a bit of a false feeling, since I really ought to be working on my project for my environmental organizing class. Yes, indeed, I am working to bring glass recycling to Missoula, and at times this seems a nigh impossible task. Yeep. However, I encourage ya'll to check out www.recyclemt.org for some pictures of the mobile glass pulverizer in Helena (and you might just see a certain familiar face in a few of those pics, too).

Speaking of pics, I ought to post a few, eh? Though it's been three weeks since I visited my sister out in Lynden, I did promise to put up a few pictures of our trip. Enjoy!

This was the day I left: it snowed the night before, thick, soft snow, and all the streets and cars and trees were white and clean that morning. This is my view on my way to work, and is my favorite part of my two-block walk.

Here's Ishta in the blizzard we drove through--let's just say that I did not at all mind going 20 mph while driving in this stuff!


Andrea on the ferry ride from Anacortes to Orcas Island. Oh, little did we know that the ferry ride would be the best part of the day!


Sistah luv:


Discoveries in Victoria, BC:




After wandering around the city for an evening and the following morning, we made our way to the southernmost point of the city (and, therefore, of Vancouver Island). Waves, water, sky, cloud, wind, driftwood: beautiful! And, of course, we couldn't help but take some 'artistic' shots.




All in all, it was a great weekend, though it did feel as though we did a lot of driving and money spending. It was lovely to get out and away, though! Even lovelier is the latest news that Andrea accepted a teaching position at Ebenezer Christian School in Lynden, WA, and will be moving there this summer! I'm looking forward to many more excursions to the Pacific Northwest in the future.

Just a few more pics, of people I often talk about but whom most of you have not met: my good friend Lindsay Iudicello and her family. A couple of weeks ago we went hiking up to the "L" on Mt. Jumbo.


Here's Linds and Corin (who's 3) and Seth (in the jester hat):


And Corin in the late afternoon sunshine:


And here's a view from the "L" of my lovely Missoula and the mountains which embrace it:


Soon the hills will be green, as will the lawns and the trees and the bushes, and the days will be sparkling with color and light and warmth, and I'll throw all the windows in the house open, day and night, to let the spring drift in.

Ahh.

adventures in baking

BEFORE:



AFTER:



I'm a big fan of frosting.

a few picture updates

I really don't understand how so much time can slither by between posts. I'm trying to update more often, but it doesn't seem to be working. I admit, I have more pressing things to do than update my blog . . .















I have been told that pictures are good. So I will cater to those of you who require visual stimulation--you'd better be happy! (Okay, okay, I like pictures, too. I like visual stimulation as much as the next person. Plah.)

This above shot is the view out my window the other evening. We haven't gotten much snow lately, but every once in awhile we get a dusting, and of course the snow stays on the mountains longer. On this particular evening, when I walked home from work it was both snowing and sunny. Montana is a marvelous place to live.

And, back to Christmas break, here's Linds toasting me with her Mountain Dew at her dad's house up in Spirit Lake. Love ya, girl!















Here's my adorable kid sister with a typical expression during one of our riveting games of Global Pursuit. She wasn't winning, AND she was about to do her chicken impression. Beware!
















My girls came to visit me--they drove down on the morning of New Year's Eve through a blizzard, and we had a lovely couple of days together, even though Amos was sick and sniffling the entire time. But Beth and Britta and I took good care of her and made sure she had plenty of time to sleep.















Here's Sarah and I at her wedding! I was her personal attendant (and corsage/boutonniere-pinner), so I got a picture with the radiant bride AND a corsage. It was a gorgeous ceremony, for those of you who weren't there.




















And here's Sarah with her new hubby. (Note how well Josh's boutonniere is pinned! Ahem.)














And now, back to Montana! Unfortunately, I didn't get many pictures from my contra dance weekend in Bozeman. Not any dancing pictures, that is. Here's the "backyard" of the place we stayed, out on the edge of town:















And here are Christa, Teresa and I, looking gorgeous, completely stylish, and not at ALL mismatched at the TropiContra dance. (The pants are to ward off the cold as we walk home. We do NOT wear them while we dance. But even if we did, no one would think twice about it!)




















And one final picture, of me (because I'm a complete narcissist) in all my contra-dancing glory. Gotta love the lei!




















Insha'allah this will make happy all of you who have been pining away for pictures. More to come next week, after I spend the weekend with my sister in Washington! We hope to take the ferry out to the San Juan Islands and maybe even up to Vancouver Island if we're feeling ambitious. I LOVE FERRIES. Actually, it's more the fact that ferries travel on water. I LOVE WATER. Mmm. And the water filling the Strait of Juan de Fuca is some of the most beautiful I've ever seen. Oh, pictures will come! Pictures will most definitely come.

upcoming travels

Now that I have the nice little mapper-dealio on my blog, I feel an increasing obligation to update my blog more often since I can see how many people are actually reading it! So, this is for all of you, from Lynden to San Jose to Minneapolis to Baltimore to Baton Rouge.

Last weekend I went moonlight skiing. There was a full moon on Groundhog Day, and a small group of Missoulians decided to go up to the Lubrecht forest to cross country ski beneath the light of the moon. It was cloudy when we arrived, cloudy and full dark, though the moon's radiance still infused the clouds with luminescence, and we were able to ski without any other lights. Every once in awhile I noticed a patch of starry sky, but the moon remained hidden as we skiied through the forest. But then, as we skiied down a small hill, we came out of the trees and alongside a wide meadow. At that moment the final wisps of cloud blew away and the moon came out, its full brightness beaming down upon the snow-covered meadow, the forest, the mountain peaks surrounding us. The landscape was stark black and white--white snow, white light, black tree, black shadow. My skis squeaked against the snow, but beyond that there was no other sound. The stars shone in the sky, but their light was dimmed by the vivid glow of the moon. I wouldn't have been surprised to see fauns and dryads dancing in the meadow; and the light sparkles sprinkled on the snow must have been due in part to fairy wings . . .


It's been warm this week--too warm for February. Last Monday I had to remove my coat while walking downtown because I was too warm. I am not ready for spring yet! I need a few more weeks of winter, of cold, of snow. None of this 60-degree weather. This is Montana, not California. Plah.

Things I am looking forward to:

1. Contra dance next weekend. It HAS to be better than the one we had last week--which was the most awful dance I've been to. Of course, it didn't help that I was just coming off the high of Wintergreen; how could any regular weekly dance compare with that?

2. Visiting Andrea in Lynden in early March. !! We are hoping to take the ferry to the San Juan Islands and perhaps even to Victoria, BC. I haven't been to this part of the country in three years and it will be wonderful! And wonderful, too, to see my kid sister. Por supuesto.

3. Visiting Rach in Baltimore in early April. Woohoo! Ethiopian food . . . coffee shops . . . maybe visiting DC . . . seeing her and Kara's gorgeous apartment . . . Tricia and Benjamin possibly coming down to spend time with us, too . . . yay.

4. Hee hee. Going to Peru with Janelley in May. It's going to be such a great time--seeing Lake Titicaca, hiking the Inca Trail, prowling around Cusco, exploring Machu Picchu--I can't wait!

Yay, travel. I've not gotten out of Missoula much lately, and it will be good to see friends again, see other parts of the country, of the world--I feel the need to broaden my horizons again. I was thinking today that I've lived in Missoula for almost 2 years. This is remarkable, considering that I've moved to a new location every year for the past five. I've been feeling restless lately, wondering what it means to be committed to a place, wondering how I can do more to plug myself in here. It's not always easy, even in a community as welcoming and friendly as Missoula. Suggestions?

EUPHORIA!

That was the state I was in this weekend. I have never done drugs, but if I had, I think that I might compare the contra dancing high to a drug high, except that it's far less harmful (though, I'm finding, equally addicting). I had an indescribably wonderful time. I will try to describe it anyway, however. (Sorry, I'm a writer. I can't help trying.)

It was lovely to simply drive across Montana. We left on Friday around 1 o'clock, and headed east on I-90. I'm so used to the Missoula valley that it was surprising to see the varying shapes of the mountains we drove through, and the view from the pass past Butte was gorgeous. And then . . . a night of contra dancing! We danced from 7:30 to 11:30, limbering up for the weekend. There were about 120 people there, and we were perfectly split--60 women and 60 men. In a word, ideal. What I may love most about contra dancing is the opportunity to meet so many different people. We run the gamut of ages and experience, from high school students to octogenarians, from expert contra dancers who have been dancing for 30 years or more to those who have just begun. The community is wonderful. I also love that there is no pressure when one is contra dancing. I have never had to sit in a corner wishing someone would ask me to dance . . . or had to feel that the fact that someone is asking me to dance means that he has ulterior motives. Everyone dances with everyone else: that's the point.


That said, I definitely have my favorites. Tom from Livingston, with his gorgeous eyes; Fred from San Diego, with his wide smile and his propensity to twirl me until I'm dizzy; Wayne from Missoula, one of the courtly older men who has as much energy as anyone and is constantly jazzing up the dance; Buell from Missoula, steady, but with a twinkle; Marvin from Bozeman, who is 82 and looks exactly like a hobbit, short, with curly gray hair. I think he is Bilbo Baggins in disguise--though he is 82, he looks 70 and dances as though he's 35. The ring of power must have been in his pocket, because I'm pretty sure he wasn't wearing it on a chain around his neck. Or perhaps it's the contra dancing that keeps him young . . .


And then there was the band: Contratopia. I was thrilled to find out they're from eastern Iowa (Decorah) and Minneapolis, and they'd actually (gasp) heard of Sioux Center, and Dordt College, and the Christian Reformed Church. Ah, Dutch bingo! And they were incredible. The combination of instruments, their obvious experience playing off one another, their in-tuneness with each other, and their ability to feed off the energy of the dancers pushed an already fantastic weekend into the realm of paradisaical. So, for those of you who are lucky enough to live in or near the Twin Cities, you MUST, I repeat MUST, check out the contra dances at the Tapestry Folkdance Center in Minneapolis, particularly those on the 4th Saturdays of the month. You will not regret it. I promise.


Okay, perhaps I ought to stop raving now. To sum up, I had a marvelous weekend and am now trying to figure out when I can get my next fix. Coeur d'Alene in June, perhaps?


Back at the ranch, though, I'm trying to adjust to normal (normal as in "no insanely high levels of endorphins racing through my bloodstream") life. It seems rather dull, I must say. Ilhamdulillah, there's a contra dance this weekend, for which I have volunteered to bring food. Any suggestions as to what delectable baked goods I should make?


School is in progress now, and I'm not quite yet into the swing of things. Bit by bit. I'm taking a less-than-thrilling class, one that is required for my degree: Citizen Participation in Environmental Problems. I will admit that it has potential, but it is not a class I would have chosen, had I had a choice. Of course, I AM a citizen, and there are lots of environmental problems out there, and I should probably participate, so I'm sure it will be useful. We shall see.


All right. I've blogged. I've raved. I've betrayed the depth of my latest obsession. And by gum, I hope that some of you lucky Twin Cities residents (Jen & Joe! Janelley! Maygs & Seth! Bethie! Amos! Heather & John!) will at least try contra dancing once. I would recommend February 24th.


Wishing you all much wonder and joy this week!

trying NOT to be a blog-slacker

Wow, I've been a blog-slacker. No posts since December 3! What a dreadful person I must be. Eep.

I haven't been in the mood to write lately. I have so little time to either think or write, and the world swirls around me, a constant distraction. School starts this coming week, and while I don't necessarily welcome the added busyness, I am looking forward to the social component. My world is very small when all I do is walk the block and a half to work (and back) every day.

The holidays were lovely! I made it home, almost on time and with all my luggage (miracle of miracles), and, fortunately, I wasn't flying through Denver. 11 days at home were well spent, with friends and family and more friends. But it wasn't quite enough time. I saw a lot of people, had a lot of fun, but I wish I could have spent more quality time with everyone. I had a delightful time with my nephews--they are ADORABLE, and Dillan is reading now, which is so exciting. Hanging out with him brought back to me how I felt at that age, sounding out letters one by one, stringing words together, a whole new world opening up to me. I never went in for buying Dillan hideous plastic toys, but I can see myself going overboard in the book arena.


Today I am going ice skating with my Little Sister (Jade, not Andrea). I haven't seen her since before Thanksgiving (guilt, guilt), and today there was a Big Brothers/Big Sisters activity: free ice skating. Can't pass that one up! I hope we have a good time. And then, tonight, is a contra dance! I haven't been contra dancing since December 16th--WAY too long ago--so I'm very much looking forward to this evening. Next weekend, Christa and I are heading out to Bozeman for the Wintergreen festival, which is an entire weekend of contra dancing. !!!


This week has also been exciting because I bought my plane ticket to Peru! Yes, I am finally getting to take advantage of my travel benefits at Adventure Life, and I am planning a trip to Peru in May, right after school is out. My friend Janelley is coming with me, and we are going to have a marvelous time. Especially since our trip mottos are "The best-laid plans of mice and men . . ." and "Well, at least it makes a good story!" And let me tell you, we are going to have some great stories by the time this trip is over. We are going to hike the Inca Trail for four days, through the Andes Mountains and into Machu Picchu. I am giddy with anticipation. Hee hee hee.


Well. I'm debating whether or not I should try to get a little more sleep (since I woke up hungry at 5:30 this morning and couldn't get back to sleep, and now, at 8:30, the tiredness is hitting) or get up and start my day. Hmm. Hmmm . . . perhaps I'll just stay in bed a little longer and finish my book, and if I fall asleep in the meantime, oh, well!

okay, okay, I'm posting already!

I don't have much to say today, but bittersweet leaves is getting bitter about my lack of posting, so here, leaf girl, this is for you!

Less than two weeks until the end of school. Eep. This week's the last week of classes. Next week is finals . . . so, insha'llah, I will be done with everything by Thursday the 14th around 9 pm! I'm such a slacker. I always say this, and it always continues to be true, and it always continues to irritate me, though obviously not enough for me to actually do something about it. Oh, well. Somehow all will get finished, as it always does.

It's been quite the week, actually. I worked more than 40 hours for the first time, and they were all good hours, for the most part. That is, I did work that needed to be done, and I felt useful, and on top of things. Not, of course, as though I'm doing anything terribly profound, but the little things need to be done well just as the big things do.

Also lots of emotional trauma/drama going on. Not, for once, in my own heart, but in those of people around me. I feel as though I'm a peripheral character in a daytime soap opera . . . "The Young and the Restless of EVST" or "The Miserable Days of Other People's Lives." I've been able to be present for a friend who needs me, and I am glad for that opportunity. At the same time, I'm frustrated with the fickleness and untrustworthiness of people I want to be able to trust. What do you do when you realize you no longer trust a good friend? How does trust get rebuilt? I know that it does--or, at least, that it can be rebuilt--but the process seems different every time. I wonder how things will play out this time.

Strange how dramas in other people's lives can help illuminate one's own life. Why is it so much easier to look at two people who are making each other miserable and see so clearly that they aren't right for each other . . . and not be able to look at a somewhat parallel situation in my own life and come to the same conclusion? Plah.

All told, though, life is going well. I've lately been looking for miracles--people miracles, specifically--in each day, and remarkably, I'm finding them. I've been thinking about 'frame of mind' a great deal lately. For instance, if your frame of mind is such that you are determined to look for misery in your everyday life, you will most definitely find it. But we so often forget that the opposite is also true--that if we look for the beauty and the miracles in our everyday lives, we will most definitely find them. So--a few people miracles that have floated into my life these past couple of weeks:

*running into Christa and Catherine at the grocery store when I was feeling lonely and needing a friend
*being told that my presence is a blessing
*25 people sharing a Thanksgiving meal, and taking time before we ate to tell of one or two or five things we are thankful for
*contra dancing, and having one of the gentlemen I danced with remember the conversation we had two weeks ago
*contra dancing, and getting to smile at and connect with so many different people
*Jenny calling me to wander around downtown and go shopping this weekend
*running into a huge group of EVSTers while doing the gallery walk for First Friday

. . . and of course I could go on and on and on, but I'm hungry and I have to read and write for a few hours (or more) today.

I'll be home in less than THREE weeks!!! Ilhamdulillah! I can't wait. It will be so good to see:

Mom and Dad
Andrea
Travis, Tami, Dillan, Landon
Bepa
Kasey
Jen and Joe
Janelley
Bethie and Amy
Maygs and Seth
Rita and David
Sarah (and Josh, and their wedding!)
people at Covenant, at Dordt, etc . . .

Pray for good traveling weather for us all!!

The Contents of My Freezer

This afternoon I was putting something in the freezer. Don't remember what. And I noticed that our freezer was absolutely overflowing with stuff. But I had no idea what most of it was. So Teresa and I spent half an hour in archaeological pursuits. Here is what we found:

*1 large ziplock bag of chicken broth
*3 large bags of freezer-burned ice
*6 ears of corn, freezer burned
*2 pork loins, fresh (i.e., just put there two days ago)
*1 hunk of unidentifiable meat from our friend Christa, who borrowed some freezer space since her old roommate took up all of theirs
*2 pieces of uncooked chicken, still palatable
*1 tupperware container with 1 extremely freezer-burned piece of steak and one extremely freezer-burned hamburger, left over from when Mom and Dad visited in July (whoops!). Currently thawing in the fridge. Will give to Sasha tomorrow (lucky dog!).
*1 small bag of sliced zucchini, unreedemable
*1 small bag of sliced peppers, fresh
*1 piece of spinach lasagne
*1 3"x8" pan of lasagne, for a rainy day
*1 large yogurt container full of lentil soup, also for a rainy day
*1 large yogurt container full of unknown soup, for yet another rainy day
*1 full loaf of bread
*6 partial loaves (mostly ends) of bread
*2 bags of corn tortillas (~25)
*1 Caribou Coffee Vanilla Latte bar (where the heck did it come from? Not mine, not Teresa's . . . it's a mystery. Wendi and Scott, perhaps?)
*2 ice cube trays of fuzzy ice
*1 partial bag of frozen peas
*1 partial bag of frozen mixed vegetables
*1 cooler ice pack, small
*4 containers of ice cream:
Cookies and Creme, generic brand (age: 4 months? more? has now been washed down sink)
Rocky Mountain Rubble, generic brand (age: 3 months? same fate as above)
Cookies and Creme, Dreyers brand (age: 3 weeks: still good)
French Vanilla, Albertson's brand (age: 2 weeks: still good)

Stay tuned for the next exciting episode in The Life and Times of Al! Up next: The Contents of My Fridge, or perhaps, even more thrilling: The Contents of The Recycling Cave of Death (or RCoD).

Contra Dancing!

I had the most fantastic evening yesterday! It was a contra dance night, but instead of being held in the too-small space above the Union Club, it was in the University Center ballroom, a huge gorgeous space with high ceilings, great acoustics, and a smooth wooden floor, perfect for dancing. It was the best contra dance I've been to--all of the men I danced with were at least fairly good, and most of them were very good, and the music was fantastic. Such good energy! I keep recognizing random people, too--there was a man there from my yoga class, and one from my lit class, and then of course there were lots of EVST ladies. I danced with the cutest 17-year-old boy named Tor--shy, tall, courteous--and we laughed the whole time. It was like dancing with a little brother except that he was probably a foot taller than I. And then of course there are all the courtly 65-year-old men who have been contra dancing for decades and are fantastic at it. I admit there's a definite dearth of guys my age, but at a contra dance that's just fine. At any rate, I danced for three hours, ate carrot cake, and had a great time. I'll see if I can get some pictures for ya'll to enjoy!


Speaking of pictures, I promised to put up Halloween pictures. So here I am, cute as can be. Aren't I a convincing 6-year-old?? Notice the feet! Hee hee hee. I think this may be the most comfortable Halloween costume I've ever had.







































Awww . . .































It rained all last night and it's still going at it this morning. A good thing, I suppose, since I need to get my reading done. We read Ecotopia by Ernest Callenbach for class last week--an intriguing utopian novel for those interested in a vision of an alternate, eco-friendly future, as written from a 1970's perspective. This week we're going for the other end of the spectrum with The Parable of the Sower by Octavia Butler, a dystopian novel set in 2024. I haven't gotten very far, but the few chapters I've read are haunting enough. I'm wondering whether this will have a depressing or a cheerful ending. I'm hoping for cheerful . . .

Here's my funny story of the week, the story of a Sunday hike, mule deer, and bushwhacking up Mt. Jumbo:

Last week Sunday was a glorious day, the last real Indian summer day we had. Warm, sunny, full of golden sunshine and yellow leaves: I had to take a hike. So I walked east to the foot of Mt. Jumbo. My friend Jenny and I had hiked to the summit a few weeks ago, and I wanted to take the same trail. However, there are several trails, going to various spots, and I took the wrong one. Whoops. I was walking parallel to I-90, towards East Missoula, and the trail wasn't going up quickly enough. I looked up the mountainside, and, far above me, saw the trail that I wanted to take. Inspired by the beautiful day, I decided to bushwhack up the side of the mountain. It was horribly steep, and I tried to cut back and forth as I worked my way up, since going straight up was far too much of a challenge for my poor legs. Halfway up to the trail, I spotted three mule deer, casually grazing about 50 yards above me. As I came closer, they turned to look down at me, enormous ears pricked, watching curiously. By this time my legs were aching and I was out of breath, so I collapsed on the side of the hill to rest, and lay there, watching the clouds and the traffic on I-90, enjoying the view of Mt. Sentinel to the south. Suddenly, though, a chill breeze sprang up, and the sunshine vanished. I looked west, and saw a huge bank of clouds rolling into the valley, covering the sun and pushing a stiff cold breeze ahead of it. Time to get moving again, I thought. So I turned to look up the mountain again, only to see ELEVEN mule deer standing above me, all perfectly still, with ears pricked, staring straight at me, probably wondering what the heck this human being was doing sprawled out on the side of their hill. I lost it. I started laughing hysterically, flopped on the ground, while the deer watched with intense interest.

I didn't make it to the summit, but I did manage to get to the right trail, and took a far easier path back down the mountain. I wish I'd had my camera with me so I could share a picture of those mule deer, but that image will have to remain in my mind alone.

Hee.

connecting and disconnecting

Today is a sublimely gorgeous day. So what else would I be doing but sitting inside updating my blog?

This morning I got up earlyish and went outside to rake leaves. In Missoula, all that leaf rakers have to do is rake the leaves onto the street, from which they will be picked up by the city and taken away to be composted. It's nice not to have to stuff leaves into garbage bags and haul them away yourslf. So this morning Teresa and I did a little raking, but the leaves haven't made it into the street yet. We raked them into a massive pile and did a little leaf jumping . . . and then I just lay there in this pile of gold, looking up at the blue, blue sky, the dark branches of the maples, the few yellow leaves still hanging on the branches. I watched the leaves flutter down, one by one, in the light breaths of breeze. Mmm.

Last night was the big EVST Halloween party. Last year's party was a blast, with some amazingly creative costumes and lots of food and beer and dancing. This year I dressed up as a 6-year-old, which was great. I wore purple footie pajamas (so warm and fuzzy!), and put my hair up in pigtails, and carried around a stuffed cow, and had string and crayons and a baggie of gorp and a stuffed camel in my pockets. Pictures forthcoming. It was a fun party, but around 11 o'clock I was standing there, surrounded by blasting music, people laughing and talking loudly, good food, good beer . . . and I suddenly felt disconnected from it all. I don't know if I've somehow grown beyond these parties, or if I just wasn't in the mood, or if I was just really getting into the role of my costume, but I realized that what I most wanted to do was go home and go to bed and get enough sleep tonight. So I did. Three cheers for responsibility?

Part of me misses the grad student life. I miss the flexibility of that schedule, the freedom, the long vacations, the community. I'm still part of the community--on the edge of it, at least--but in so many other ways I seem to have moved on. I've been thinking a lot lately about what goals I have for my life, what I want to do, who I want to be, what kind of life I want to live. I've decided that someday I would like to own my own land, and build a house on that land. I feel impossibly far away from the realization of that dream, but at least I'm dreaming it, right? Insha'allah.


Okay, so I suppose I should post some pictures. Let's see what I can dredge up . . .


This is from my birthday party, just before I whacked the hell out of my pinata.





























And Bethie came to visit me! Of course I took her (and Wendi and Scott) to the Old Post.





























And back even further, pictures from Lindsay's wedding in August. Here are all of us gorgeous bridesmaids in our shimmery shades of aqua in the Greek Orthodox church where Linds got married.





























And here are Jen, Maygs, Linds, and I, together again! Oh, it brings me back to our high school days when we'd hang out at Linds's house on the weekends and eat pizza and Doritos, drink Mountain Dew, and watch Clueless. Those were the good old days. Thank God we eat more healthily now! (Right, Linds?)































All right, time to get my nose to the grindstone. Either that, or I'll go out and hike and enjoy this perfect day. Not long, now, until the grey cloudiness of Missoula winter sets in!

Dancing the Macarena . . .

Last night Teresa, Christa and I did a dancing double-header, starting out our evening with lasagna, bread, and wine (mmm, wine!), and then going to the bi-monthly contra dance. Such fun! I love contra dancing, especially with gentlemanly 60-70ish-year-old men. One of the men I danced with reminded me of my Pake, and I just thought about how good Pake would have been at contra dancing, and teasing all the young women. It was lots of fun, and such good exercise! Afterward, the three of us headed over to the Elk's Club for the monthly salsa dance. That was fun, too, but I was really tired and didn't last very long. Right before we left, they played the Macarena, and it was soooo funny to see this huge roomful of people dancing the Macarena. I think the last time I've danced that is at a barn dance for youth group when I was in high school . . . say, a decade ago? Hee hee hee.


Life has been so good lately. This past week has had a lot of positives--at work on Monday I got promoted from "The Intern Who Does A Little Bit of Everything" to "Full Time Employee Who Does A Little Bit of Everything"! Yay! This means an up in pay . . . health benefits . . . TRAVEL benefits . . . and a steady job for the first time in my life. And, for the first time in my life, I'm in a place (both geographical and mental), where I'm willing and even eager to have a steady job. I love my co-workers, which is a good thing, since it's a small office (it's actually a house), with only about 15 employees, so if we don't like each other we ALL have a problem. This week I get to move to my new desk, and it is MY desk, which means I can put up pictures and quotes and have it as my personal space. Yay again! My job right now is an amalgamation of Office Manager and Peru/Ecuador Operations Person, but I think that in the next couple of weeks I'm going to add "Flight/Travel Agent" to the list. Needless to say, I will be keeping busy!


What else? I went to yoga on Tuesday, and it was good, as always. My friend Jess and I went together and then had pizza at the Bridge afterward--I think it will be a Tuesday evening tradition, and a good one. On Wednesday Jess and I went rock climbing, and it was so much fun! I have only been climbing once, and that was two and a half years ago, so I'm glad to be able to do it again. I think it may be an activity I could really enjoy! Wednesday night was also the ROLLING STONES concert, so the University was swarming with people, and the smell of pot wafted through the air . . . hee.


On Friday I didn't work, so I ran errands and went to Old Navy and got some fun clothing (too many good sales . . . beware!), and just had a good, relaxed day. In the evening I went with my friend Francie to her three-room schoolhouse and helped her decorate her classroom for Halloween. We had so much fun! She hung up skeletons and spiders and bats, and I stretched cobwebby stuff in all the corners of the classroom, and we listened to 'Nosotros' -- an awesome Latino band -- and danced around the room as we decorated.


So . . . life is good, and I find myself in this strange place of contentment and enthusiasm. The semester did NOT start off well at all, and I admit to being stressed and sad and worried about how my life was going, but these past couple of weeks have been so rich. I know that God is constantly working in our lives, but I'm not sure we're always able to see it. I feel blessed to be able to feel God's hand in my life right now, blessed that I am open to it, blessed that I am so loved as to receive the richness of his grace. This grace and contentment are running like a river through my soul, deep and wide and strong, and no matter the pools and eddies, the tree branches and ice, the dams and obstacles, on the surface, the current is running beneath, and I know and feel that it is there.


And today has a little bit of sun, a little bit of cloud, a little bit of cold, and I think this afternoon I might walk down to Bernice's and drink tea and read Wind from an Enemy Sky, by D'Arcy McNickel, for my Lit class. Or perhaps I will look through my writings of the past year and try to figure out what I'm going to read at my (gulp) reading this Wednesday night (EEP!).


On to being productive . . . at least a little. Happy Sunday, everyone!