A List: Over a Month

Oops....

It's been over a month since my last post! So I shall make a list of what has been going on. 

- summer is over, but my job kicks into high gear from mid-August to October. 

- I worked 14 days straight, followed by a trip to visit old friends in Raleigh. 

- 2 friends left for new adventures. One for Boston, one for Nepal. 

- I got back on the weight watchers wagon and am back to my pre-summer weight. 

- a visit to the beach was added to my trip to Raleigh. 

- I have been baking lots of new things. Scones, mocha cookies, and carrot cake from scratch to name a few. 

- purchasing plane tickets has become my new hobby. First to England and now one back from Maine for a week from tomorrow. 

- a morning walk/jog to start my day has led me to some great snap shots of the landscape around here. 

- I went to a Braves game in ATL and ate at the Varsity to get the full experience. 

- Jane and I rode 18 miles on our bikes yesterday. From Travelers Rest to downtown and back. 

- I finally made the apron I bought material for 2 years ago. 

And I can't really think of many more things that I have been up to in the past month. 

October promises to be as busy and crazy as the past month, but hopefully I can pump out a few blog posts in the mean time. 

Framily Blessings

Framily = friends + family

Living relatively far from home has forced me to develop relationships that if I were near my own family I would likely not develop. 

Not to say they replace my family in any way, but they certainly fill a void that is obvious when I haven't been home in months. 

One of the biggest blessings of my framilies is having people to share a meal with. 

Eating alone is fine and all, but eating at a family dinner table is much more enjoyable. 

At my last framily meal, one of the youngest was asked to say the blessing before eating. 

She was thankful for the food.  

She was thankful for the day.

She was thankful that I got to eat dinner with them that evening. 

And I am thankful to have friends that treat me as their family that I get to eat dinner with and be blessed by the blessing of a small child's thanks. 

Hey Staffers

2013 Summer Staff (and Petey)

 

 

 

They were here for 3 months.
They have been gone for 3 days.

I tried to not get to know them this year. To not hang out with them as much. That lasted about a week. Then I caved.
 

And now, as it has for 9 summers of my life, my heart hurts a little.

 

Camp is a weird place. Being a camper and having to leave after a week was the first way I experienced this feeling. But for 9 of my 11 post high school summers I have experienced this weird thing that is working at a camp.
 

You spend 3 months with people who become your dearest friends, spending countless hours together working, playing, eating, sleeping, pranking, crying, laughing, talking, dancing, etc. Then it ends. Usually abruptly.

For 4 of these summers I got to be the one on the leaving end. 

For the past 5, however, I have been in the crowd that stays after the dust settles on what seems like an eternity of knowing someone but also on what went so quickly it almost feels as though it didn't happen.

If you have never worked somewhere that you live and eat with the people you work with, it is likely hard to understand.

But these people that arrive every May and leave every August, although a different collection every year, seem to capture my heart in the same way.

(The 4 that have been here my 3 summers at LUL.)

 

They likely make silly choices and get on my last nerve at some point in those 3 months. They are in the way as I try to get to my desk. They ask questions I don't know the answer to. They don't have a water bottle today. They may have just broken that thing over there.....

 

(Sometimes, they like to take pictures of themselves on your phone.)

but...

They serve their hearts out and have a blast doing it.

(My favorite night of teen camp this year.)

They get up early and work really late. They do things even when they don't want to. They do things even when you don't ask. They jump up to help when they see a need. They love each other, they love their kids, they love well. They sing silly songs, slosh thousands of dirty dishes, fix scraped knees, teach kids about the joy they have found in life, play rec games, and get up the next day and do it all again.

These staffers are quality individuals. And although I miss them right now and wish they could stay, I know it is best for them to go back to real life.

 

This summer is high on my list of preferred summers in my life. And there are many things to attribute to that.

But.

I know that highest on that list was getting to know and love these 24 college kids. Go out and serve well (but come visit us sometimes too). 

Just Keep Running #4

I may have come out a little worse for the wear after the run.

The 2 nights before my long run I went to bed with a fever about 2-3 degrees higher than my usual. I decided Friday night that if I woke with a fever I would not run. When I woke I was back to normal. So I ran. It may have been a bad choice. 

During the run, I did not feel my best. And I learned a few things to do and not do before I set out on another big run. 

Do:

(This is the trail on which I do long runs)

- Train. I felt up to it as far as physical capacity. 

- Carry water or something. I failed to do this. I got water at mile 7, but after that there were no fountains. Poor, poor planning. 

- Use that tiny pocket in the running shorts to store a couple of bucks just in case. This came in handy as I paused the run when I came across a gas station and bought a Gatorade. 

Don't: 

- Run when you have been feeling sick. I have now been sick for a whole week. I think my body decided I was silly for running so far and wanted to punish me.

- Think you can't. Running is way more mental for me than a physical limit at this point. 

- Run without sustenance. Again, I learned that the hard way. 

 

Miles 7-10 were the most difficult. It got a lot hotter out by that time and less shady on the trail. And it wasn't until mile 10 that I came across that gas station.   

10-13.1 weren't too bad once I downed some Gatorade. 

My time was not what I had anticipated, but with the things I learned I think I can improve on it next time. 

I ended the 13.1 miles soaked in sweat, my shoes were even a little squishy, and mildly exhausted, but glad I did it. 

In March it was an accomplishment to run (and by run i mean slowly jog) 1 mile without stopping. And by the beginning of August I ran 13.1!  Well, mostly ran. There was plodding and jogging and a little bit of walking.

Never would I have thought I would enjoy running, but it turns out that I do. 

Who knows, maybe I will try for a full marathon in the spring. 

Just Keep Running #3

One of my goals for 30 by 30 is to just keep running. This includes a few things. One of them being complete a half marathon.

On Saturday, I did this (sort of). 

I did not sign up for a real race, partly because I didn't want to pay for it and partly because the timing of my starting the training program did not line up with any local races. 

I started running in March and getting through one mile without stopping was an accomplishment. And for some reason by April, I thought a half marathon sounded like a good idea. 

In April talk of doing a half marathon happened and I was given a training plan. The only problem was I needed to be able to run 6 miles before I could even start the plan. 

Step 1: build up to 6 miles.
Step 2: start the plan:

That happened toward the end of May. 

Conveniently, the plan was 10 weeks long and the summer camp season here is about 10 weeks long. 

Having some sort of distraction and goal during the summer outside of work is good for me and this summer it became running. 

And it all culminated Saturday with my own half marathon. 

I considered making a bigger deal out of it than I did, but I went with a rather small deal and just got up and started first thing in the morning and had my friend Steph chauffeur me back to my car.

I finished a bit slower than I anticipated and learned a few things about long runs and preparations that should be made along the way, but slow time or not, I did it.

(I think I like the calories burned the best)

 

More details to come in later posts, but I feel a little accomplished in that I (mostly) jogged 13.1 miles in one shot (there was some plodding and about a collective mile of walking) and didn't pass out or come out too worse for the wear so far. 

Gilead by Marilynne Robinson

Have you ever read a book and thought to yourself that the author is materializing thoughts that you didn't even know you had in a way much better than you could have articulated yourself?

Or thought that maybe you should have grown up in a different time period because of a book?

Or that you could never truly understand what the people who lived life long before you went through? and how standards and ideas of life and thoughts were just so different?

Or that they are so similar?

The book Gilead, by Marilynne Robinson, a sort of fictional memoir, led me to think all of these things.
 

It is a series of letters written by an old preacher to his young son in the small, secluded town of Gilead, Iowa in the late 1950's.

His thoughts, or Robinson's thoughts really, are so honest and interesting. Things that, once stated, I recognized as being in my mind long before and began to ponder more closely. Thoughts about eternity and small things in life. And about the present and huge things in life.

One thought I particularly enjoyed was about laughter:

"...It is an amazing thing to watch people laugh, the way it sort of takes them over...I wonder what it is and where it comes from, and I wonder what it expends out of your system, so that you have to do it till you're done..." (pg. 5)

Laughing is easily one of my top 5 favorite things in life. I have pondered the different laughs and reasons to laugh, but never quite this perspective of laughter. But what does it expend and where does it come from? Sometimes laughter is so uproarious that it can hardly be contained and sometimes it is so small that only I am aware it is happening.


The old preacher moves from simple thoughts on laughter to deep and intriguing thoughts on eternity (pictured left from pg. 57) and what comes of this world.

Toward the end the old preacher writes:

"There are a thousand thousand reasons to live this life, every one of them sufficient."
(pg. 243)

I cannot help but agree with him. Some days the reasons for things seem blurry and silly and insignificant, but they are sufficient. If you are living, there is reason.

 

The idea of writing our stories and thoughts in short letters is beautiful to me. I have long believed a well written letter (or a silly and nonsensical letter) is one of the best gifts someone could give. And what better way to keep ideas and knowledge and ponderings alive than to pass them down in the form of letters from one generation to the next.

Waste of Space

There are some things in life that are wasting space, that are a waste of space, and cause wasted space.

There are many kinds of space to waste. 

One of which was very clear to me today. 

A waste of mental space. 

Why did this come to mind you ask? Let me tell you:

My summer roommate and friend of 5 years, Kelly, has been perusing the TV room and noted I own the games Dance Dance Revolution and Guitar Hero for the  PS2. As I do own these, in years past I have wasted much time in entertainment through them. (Time, another thing to waste)

 

Dance Dance Revolution became a fast favorite of mine in college when we played for hours on end instead of doing our soccer workouts. I, however, have not played much as of late. (It is much more fun with people than alone.) 

Kelly also played DDR for hours on end during her college career. 

So of course, having 2 hours to fill with something to do, and learning that we are both awesome at DDR, we played. 

*not as in arcade level awesome, those guys are cray cray. 

And it was as they say, like riding a bike. 

Why does my memory keep those steps and rhythms so keenly preserved?

What else could I put in my mind rather than (mostly) useless video game knowledge?

How can I train myself to use that power and form of memory for the greater good or at least more of a purpose?

What other things are stored in my mind that will come out at a least expected time?

But, alas, maybe it isn't a waste. Without it, I wouldn't have enjoyed the time spent playing DDR yesterday with Kelly or the memories that emerged from days in the quad of playing until we could hardly stand anymore.

So maybe a waste of space isn't all bad. Maybe it isn't a waste at all. But I would still like to know how to harness that power for the greater good.