Quick Note

So I don't fail yet again, here is a new post. I am on a quick break from work. Long days when guests are here. We are hosting a jazz festival this weekend so we have musicians staying with us. I just made a big salad including fresh greens I had planted in the greenhouse. I love it! I will write more when I have a real moment to sit and think. Love to everyone.

amazingly

It's 2:40 am. Why am I up this late? Gotta eat a granola bar. Summer's turned, over soon. Leaving on my crazy road trip to Nevada in less than two months. Less than two months. Where am I? Where am I in life? What should I do after Burning Man? Back to Homer, go hang out with my dad in Hawaii? What? I don't know where the momentum of life will take me. But I'm happy. I'm happy enough to be pretty happy. :)

grumblegrumblegrumble

I was so sure I had posted something after that. Mhm. I guess I'd better get to work on my chicken costume. Maybe we should each get just ONE late pass? Pleeeasseee Mishka? :) Because, see, if I just plain lose, then I won't have my incentive anymore. This way I'm still motivated to post. Right?

and now for something completely different...

I'm not wearing any socks. Just bare feet shoved into my worn-out tennis shoes. Cold, clammy and sticky. My car smells faintly of hand-rolled cigarettes, and something else I can't make out. I still taste garlic from last nights dinner. The muffled sound of am radio mingles with the sound of the gravel crunching and sputtering under my tires. My eyes are bleary and my head is empty and humming. My soul is still sleeping.

Life in the Cove

I don't even know where to begin. I'm being paid to live in an Alaskan paradise. I'm not sure I'll actually want to leave in the fall. They may have to pry my fingers away from the dock, or drug me and throw me in the boat. The pictures do not do it justice. I am so happy and calm here. I get to go kayaking whenever I want to. My work consists of cleaning, gardening, and cooking/baking which are things I enjoy doing anyway. I feel like I've been adopted into a second family. It's...it's... unbelieveably amazing. I wish I could share this place with all my friends and family.

In other news, my stepdad, Alex, had a heart attack two days ago. He's doing fine, but had to be flown to Anchorage and was in surgery for nine hours. He's recovering, and should be back home in a few days, but it was really scary and unexpected. My mom has been with him the whole time. I know she's beyond exhausted. We (kids) have been trying to take care of as much as we can here so she won't have a million things to do when she gets back. But my sister is getting married in two weeks, so things will be busy no matter what.

I just bought tickets to Burning Man about 45 minutes ago. More on that later. Yes, impulsive decision to do something crazy. Last time I did that it was worthwhile, so I'm hoping that trend holds true. I'm a little worried about the desert heat. Not so much about the crazy people. It seems like it'll be a good way to really cut loose before I get serious about a real job for the winter. I've spent a lot of my life hiding from exciting experiences, and I want to change that. I want to have stories to tell that will shock my kids someday. I want to have done things they won't believe I had ever done. I want to have done things I won't believe I actually did. Besides, I've always wanted an excuse to cover my entire body in henna tattoos, and I honestly can't imagine another situation in which that would be perfectly appropriate. I won't be taking drugs or drinking heavily (or having indiscriminate relations...) I can assure you of that. But I do hope to have a once-in-a-lifetime experience that will shift my perspective and maybe dissolve a few more of my pesky inhibitions--the unnecessary ones that keep me so shy and self-conscious.

I'm going to finish my lovely day with a nice hot sauna. I am SO well taken care of here!

Yak milk is delicious.

I just wrapped up a really fun weekend. There was good company, good weather, good food, good music, and lots of dancing. Definitely my favorite kind of weekend. Now I have two days to rest and relax before my job officially begins. Wednesday we'll be moving a bunch of stuff over to the lodge, and Thursday we will all officially move in over there.

There have been earthquakes every night the past three nights. They always wake me up with a jolt. They haven't been big ones, but they definitely shake the house. I wonder if there's going to be more volcanic activity soon.

I would write more, but I'm fading. I think a nap is in store.

Next week I'll be able to write all about the new job, and living at the lodge in Halibut Cove! Oh, and yes, I do realize that I have wandered very far from the original theme of this blog, and also that it could benefit from photos and such. I will work on that. Stay tuned.

Whew!

The pace of my life has finally picked up. It was time. Yesterday I got the full tour of the lodge I'll be working at, and found out they will have enough projects for it to be a full-time gig (yay!) So next Wednesday I'll be moving to Halibut Cove. What a lovely, lovely place, and such wonderfully warm and welcoming people to work for. What other summer job could I possibly want? I get to garden, cook, clean, among other things that I already enjoy doing without getting paid. In a magnificent setting. With awesome people, including my little brother. :)

Today I worked over there for about five hours, raking the hill, cleaning up the garden, and clearing branches. It was great. I can't get over how nice it is to be doing something where I actually use my two hands to do something other than type. And the rest of my body too. I'm going to be very sore tomorrow, I'm sure. All these little muscles are waking up and saying, "Oh, wait, what? You need us?!?!" And on top of that I played ultimate frisbee for a couple of hours, which included plenty of running. Thankfully it was a very nice, mellow bunch of folks who didn't mind my slow reflexes and lack of spatial awareness. ;) And I wasn't even as awful as I thought I would be, though I definitely missed the frisbee more than I caught it.

Okay, time to wrap this up and go to bed. Sounds like I may have another workday tomorrow!