Monday, November 10, 2008
Enchanted Weekend
Friday I left work at 4:15 and sped toward Fredricksburg. I arrived at Enchanted Rock National Area, approximately 17 miles outside Fredricksburg, at 5:45 p.m. and checked in at the ranger's station. The ranger told me that it was a 1.5 mile hike to where my campsite was. There were signs on the ranger's station to be aware of snakes. I asked how bad the snake problem was this time of year and the ranger jokingly said that there had been no bites that day and that if you don't bother them, they don't bother you. Besides, he said, "they only bite you once" to which I replied, "yeah, and I only die once too!" I made a split decision to drive back into Fredricksburg, rent a room, and stay for the night because the sun had gone down and I was unfamiliar with the trail and thought it would be bad for me to get lost in the park on a cold night. I checked into a motel 8 and went down main street in search of some dinner. I found a cute little historic house that had been converted into a restaurant with live music. There was a local singer/songwriter there and I ate steak, enjoyed the ambiance, and got to talking with the waiter. I truly felt as though I was meant to be at that precise spot when the waiter told me that he had lived in the BVI's. Well, as you know I am planning a trip there in June and my mother has been trying to get me to move there and live the island life. Patrick, the waiter, told me that locals HATE foreigners, the school system is incredibly bad, and that they only get paid about 15k. That did it for me! I am confident in my decision not to move there.
The next morning I was up by 6, had my complimentary breakfast, showered, packed my things and headed back to ER. Since I didn't know the terrain, I decided to take my tent, hammer, and backpack with waters, phone, ID, camera along the trail. It was a tough one and I was glad of my decision to make the first hike light. The trail went from rambling walk into the forest under the falling leaves to navigating my way through dried creek beds and up hills of rock. I had a great time the first time. It took me 3 trips in and 2 trips out to move all of my stuff in and out of camp. I was really wishing I had a husband and some kids to carry all of my shit! Needless to say, I downsized from a large rolling luggage bag and ice chest to an HEB bag for my food, waters in my backpack, and the clothes I had on my back. There was not going to be any need for changing clothes in the wild. All in all I hiked over 12 miles in two SHORT days.
Once I had camp set up I hiked back to take summit trail up the main dome of Enchanted Rock. It was a lot harder to do after hiking 3 miles, but I made it. I spent the afternoon reading and writing and enjoying the view. There was a girl who fell in the cave and broke her ankle and busted her head open and had to be carried in a gurney down the sheer rock surface of ER by 8 rescue men. I, of course, did not go into the caves. I am very accident prone and will save that kind of insanity for when I have friends with me who can call 911.
That night I ate my lunchable, read until dark, and went to bed. Since it gets dark at around 6, I was in bed early. As soon as the sun went down, the cold enveloped me. I spent the night dozing in and out of sleep broken by the feeling of rocks in my back, a blanket that was to small to pull over my head while at the same time covering my feet, and strangers mistaking my tent for theirs. It was very interesting to find that the insects that I always hear at dusk do not sleep through the night. At daybreak I awoke and hurriedly packed my camp.
Leaving ER I felt tired from the miles of walking I had done, but rejuvenated. While I was there I thought about my safety, survival, and the sounds of nature. Getting anywhere took time, patience, and a plan. I feel like that is analogous to life as well. Before I went on this trip I thought I would spend time meditating on life and my job and how to solve problems. What really happened was I paid special attention to the most important things life can put before you--staying alive and enjoying your time here. I guess if I have those two things covered then everything else is seriously, not an issue. Wishing you the best year ever.....Mel.
The next morning I was up by 6, had my complimentary breakfast, showered, packed my things and headed back to ER. Since I didn't know the terrain, I decided to take my tent, hammer, and backpack with waters, phone, ID, camera along the trail. It was a tough one and I was glad of my decision to make the first hike light. The trail went from rambling walk into the forest under the falling leaves to navigating my way through dried creek beds and up hills of rock. I had a great time the first time. It took me 3 trips in and 2 trips out to move all of my stuff in and out of camp. I was really wishing I had a husband and some kids to carry all of my shit! Needless to say, I downsized from a large rolling luggage bag and ice chest to an HEB bag for my food, waters in my backpack, and the clothes I had on my back. There was not going to be any need for changing clothes in the wild. All in all I hiked over 12 miles in two SHORT days.
Once I had camp set up I hiked back to take summit trail up the main dome of Enchanted Rock. It was a lot harder to do after hiking 3 miles, but I made it. I spent the afternoon reading and writing and enjoying the view. There was a girl who fell in the cave and broke her ankle and busted her head open and had to be carried in a gurney down the sheer rock surface of ER by 8 rescue men. I, of course, did not go into the caves. I am very accident prone and will save that kind of insanity for when I have friends with me who can call 911.
That night I ate my lunchable, read until dark, and went to bed. Since it gets dark at around 6, I was in bed early. As soon as the sun went down, the cold enveloped me. I spent the night dozing in and out of sleep broken by the feeling of rocks in my back, a blanket that was to small to pull over my head while at the same time covering my feet, and strangers mistaking my tent for theirs. It was very interesting to find that the insects that I always hear at dusk do not sleep through the night. At daybreak I awoke and hurriedly packed my camp.
Leaving ER I felt tired from the miles of walking I had done, but rejuvenated. While I was there I thought about my safety, survival, and the sounds of nature. Getting anywhere took time, patience, and a plan. I feel like that is analogous to life as well. Before I went on this trip I thought I would spend time meditating on life and my job and how to solve problems. What really happened was I paid special attention to the most important things life can put before you--staying alive and enjoying your time here. I guess if I have those two things covered then everything else is seriously, not an issue. Wishing you the best year ever.....Mel.
Wednesday, November 5, 2008
4 years in review
4 years ago I called my mother on November 5th and cried on the phone to her. I was devastated that Bush made it to the Presidency. Again! I felt robbed, cheated, disillusioned. It was just another example of life smacking the crap out of my hopeful optimism. I asked her, "aren't you just devastated?" to which she replied, "no, the person I voted for won." Double whammy. The woman that I looked up to for her level headed thinking, life experience, and reason had voted for an idiot! I couldn't believe that she had listened to me campaign for Kerry the whole while planning to vote for Bush. In retrospect I gained another level of respect for my mother because she allowed me to spread my political wings without stifling my views. (But I was still irritated that she didn't let me know she didn't feel the same as me so that I could convince her that I was right!)
This year I did not harp to my mother about who she should vote for or why she shouldn't vote for the other. Mostly this was because I noticed a slow change in my mother's view. She began enjoying comedians like John Stewart, shows like The Colbert Report, and movies like Religulous. I did call once during early voting and when I found out that she had voted I asked who she had voted for. She coyly said, "who did you want me to vote for?" I said, "I want you to vote for who you think would be the best at leading our country" in a very sarcastic, humorous way. Again she said, "who do you think I voted for?" to which I said, "Obama".
She whispered into the phone that she had in fact voted for Obama, but that if anyone at the office found out she might be fired. She said this half jokingly and half seriously. I asked her what changed her mind from a lifetime of republican voting to vote for a young, black, democrat. I rattled off a list of issues that have been batted about during the campaign, but she said that there was only one reason that she voted for Obama. She believes that if elected president both Obama and McCain will not live through the first term and that Palin is too much of an idiot to be trusted with such a high-stakes position. Thank you Palin.
This morning as I was driving to work and while I listened to all of the coverage of the post-election news I cried again. My tears were first from a sense of profound and overwhelming happiness that what I think is greatest about our country was illustrated by Obama's election. My tears were secondly from the dark, seizing fear that tightened the pit of my stomach. It was a wave of fear so profound that I almost had to pull over from the nausea. I am deathly afraid that some crazed hick from the sticks is going to harm Obama because of residual racist ideologies that are still rampant in places like rural Texas. I am not usually so religious, but lack the vocabulary to honor the spirits of the world so, I will use popular vernacular; please God, look over Obama and let him succeed where others have failed. Please bring the United States out of the downward spiral of hubris. Wishing you the best 4 years ever....Mel
This year I did not harp to my mother about who she should vote for or why she shouldn't vote for the other. Mostly this was because I noticed a slow change in my mother's view. She began enjoying comedians like John Stewart, shows like The Colbert Report, and movies like Religulous. I did call once during early voting and when I found out that she had voted I asked who she had voted for. She coyly said, "who did you want me to vote for?" I said, "I want you to vote for who you think would be the best at leading our country" in a very sarcastic, humorous way. Again she said, "who do you think I voted for?" to which I said, "Obama".
She whispered into the phone that she had in fact voted for Obama, but that if anyone at the office found out she might be fired. She said this half jokingly and half seriously. I asked her what changed her mind from a lifetime of republican voting to vote for a young, black, democrat. I rattled off a list of issues that have been batted about during the campaign, but she said that there was only one reason that she voted for Obama. She believes that if elected president both Obama and McCain will not live through the first term and that Palin is too much of an idiot to be trusted with such a high-stakes position. Thank you Palin.
This morning as I was driving to work and while I listened to all of the coverage of the post-election news I cried again. My tears were first from a sense of profound and overwhelming happiness that what I think is greatest about our country was illustrated by Obama's election. My tears were secondly from the dark, seizing fear that tightened the pit of my stomach. It was a wave of fear so profound that I almost had to pull over from the nausea. I am deathly afraid that some crazed hick from the sticks is going to harm Obama because of residual racist ideologies that are still rampant in places like rural Texas. I am not usually so religious, but lack the vocabulary to honor the spirits of the world so, I will use popular vernacular; please God, look over Obama and let him succeed where others have failed. Please bring the United States out of the downward spiral of hubris. Wishing you the best 4 years ever....Mel
Sunday, November 2, 2008
Ocassional Saturdays
Well Friday night I stayed up late with my sister and watched a movie that we picked up for Hollywood Video. It was P.S. I Love You with hot ass Gerard Butler. I cried throughout the whole thing. That movie is phenominal (even though I can't stand Hillary Swanks teeth). It makes me want to go to Ireland. I watched the DVD features and found out that the author is the most gorgeous little Irish girl who wrote the book that inspired the film at 21!!! That's right, 21. I guess I am not ever gonna be inspired enough to have something published. Good for her though.
I really shouldn't have stayed up late because I had to promote team in training and the leukemia and lymphoma society in New Braunfels early the next morning at the Wurster 5 miler. I was up at 4:45 and we were there by 6:15 a.m. I really wish I had known how close Landa Park was to my house because I could have gotten a few extra minutes of sleep in. The event was interesting. I have come to the conclusion that middle to late-aged white men really scare me and they were everywhere at this event. The are all really dorky because they have been domesticated, but if you look into their eyes, I mean really look in their eyes, there is a sick desperation. The kind of desperation that elicits sick, dark, thoughts usually about the nearest pretty young thing. But it was not a middle aged white man that would hit on me Saturday morning. It was a middle aged Hispanic man who was pushing 50 that came up to me and dropped lines like, "well if you ever need a running partner..." and "like I said, I would really like to hear from you some time..." and "I really hope to see you around...". I really try to be polite when things like that happen, I mean, I guess that those things are supposed to happen in that way, but the guy was so far from my type that conversely you would think that I would be the farthest from his type too. But alas I was not. All I could do was politely ignore his attempts and pack up all of my shit as quickly as possible to make a quick dash to my car and be gone from the most awkward situation I had been in in a while.
But later in the afternoon made up for the weirdness of the morning. I went and met up with my old buddy MC and had a juicy cheese burger from Chester's Hamburgers. It was the most delicious "bad" food I had had in a while, but after the morning I had I think I deserved it. MC and I caught up on our lives since it had been several months since we had last chatted and all I could think in my mind was thank god I have friends who are as busy as I am and who do not get pissy or offended if I can't sit on the phone and chat with them for three hours a day every day of the week. Most of my friends are perfectly happy meeting up quarterly, sharing what has transpired in our lives, enjoying a few beers and then going our separate ways until the next time we get a chance to see each other. Being a high school teacher is exhausting sometimes when you have students saying day in and day out that what is going on with their friends is life altering and something they will never get over and that they will be friends forever. Friends are situational, they come and go. Be as good a friend as you can and they will be good to you in turn. When your lives no longer need each other, move on knowing that there will be others to replace them.
After the juicy burger we headed to Charlie Brown's, a dive bar off of Starcrest and had one drink before we left. It is only a matter of time when reading the obsenities on the bar is no longer interesting and you begin looking for a way out. If we had stayed any longer we would have died of boredom. So we made our way down to another dive bar called Fiasco's and there we found the greatest rock cover band in the world getting no love from the red neck sports fans that were patroning the bar. But we sought to change that as quickly as we realized how good these guys were. My sis Brit came along and we hooted, hollered, and clapped after each of the sets. They kept getting better and better, and so did the entertainment. Oh, yes. There is one in every town. There is a woman, I don't know her name, but I have seen her in almost every bar in town that I have ever been in. Mind you, I go out MAYBE once a semester and it is usually to different places every time, so this chick gets around. Last night she was wearing a shortsleeved, turtle neck, UT sweater that barely covered her incredibly large breasts, a belly button ring that sparkled in the neon lights, jeans that were accentuated by the rinestone studded country and western belt that she wore, and the entire outfit was complemented by the white boots she was wearing on her feet. She was at least 40, but hot. Her stomach was a washboard and she had the ass of a teenager and she was not afraid to shake it on the dance floor. The lap dances abounded. Every man who had the balls to go up to her got one, even the drummer of the band and I almost sent my bud MC out to get one too until I noticed her one, fatal flaw--meth mouth. That is right. She had blackened and missing teeth. She was the poster child to the old locker room joke that if you put a bag over her head you could do her. I just feel bad that she didn't find herself that rich husband whom she could be the trophy wife for before she became the sad, old hag in the bar. Don't turn out like her! Wishing you the best year ever.....Mel
I really shouldn't have stayed up late because I had to promote team in training and the leukemia and lymphoma society in New Braunfels early the next morning at the Wurster 5 miler. I was up at 4:45 and we were there by 6:15 a.m. I really wish I had known how close Landa Park was to my house because I could have gotten a few extra minutes of sleep in. The event was interesting. I have come to the conclusion that middle to late-aged white men really scare me and they were everywhere at this event. The are all really dorky because they have been domesticated, but if you look into their eyes, I mean really look in their eyes, there is a sick desperation. The kind of desperation that elicits sick, dark, thoughts usually about the nearest pretty young thing. But it was not a middle aged white man that would hit on me Saturday morning. It was a middle aged Hispanic man who was pushing 50 that came up to me and dropped lines like, "well if you ever need a running partner..." and "like I said, I would really like to hear from you some time..." and "I really hope to see you around...". I really try to be polite when things like that happen, I mean, I guess that those things are supposed to happen in that way, but the guy was so far from my type that conversely you would think that I would be the farthest from his type too. But alas I was not. All I could do was politely ignore his attempts and pack up all of my shit as quickly as possible to make a quick dash to my car and be gone from the most awkward situation I had been in in a while.
But later in the afternoon made up for the weirdness of the morning. I went and met up with my old buddy MC and had a juicy cheese burger from Chester's Hamburgers. It was the most delicious "bad" food I had had in a while, but after the morning I had I think I deserved it. MC and I caught up on our lives since it had been several months since we had last chatted and all I could think in my mind was thank god I have friends who are as busy as I am and who do not get pissy or offended if I can't sit on the phone and chat with them for three hours a day every day of the week. Most of my friends are perfectly happy meeting up quarterly, sharing what has transpired in our lives, enjoying a few beers and then going our separate ways until the next time we get a chance to see each other. Being a high school teacher is exhausting sometimes when you have students saying day in and day out that what is going on with their friends is life altering and something they will never get over and that they will be friends forever. Friends are situational, they come and go. Be as good a friend as you can and they will be good to you in turn. When your lives no longer need each other, move on knowing that there will be others to replace them.
After the juicy burger we headed to Charlie Brown's, a dive bar off of Starcrest and had one drink before we left. It is only a matter of time when reading the obsenities on the bar is no longer interesting and you begin looking for a way out. If we had stayed any longer we would have died of boredom. So we made our way down to another dive bar called Fiasco's and there we found the greatest rock cover band in the world getting no love from the red neck sports fans that were patroning the bar. But we sought to change that as quickly as we realized how good these guys were. My sis Brit came along and we hooted, hollered, and clapped after each of the sets. They kept getting better and better, and so did the entertainment. Oh, yes. There is one in every town. There is a woman, I don't know her name, but I have seen her in almost every bar in town that I have ever been in. Mind you, I go out MAYBE once a semester and it is usually to different places every time, so this chick gets around. Last night she was wearing a shortsleeved, turtle neck, UT sweater that barely covered her incredibly large breasts, a belly button ring that sparkled in the neon lights, jeans that were accentuated by the rinestone studded country and western belt that she wore, and the entire outfit was complemented by the white boots she was wearing on her feet. She was at least 40, but hot. Her stomach was a washboard and she had the ass of a teenager and she was not afraid to shake it on the dance floor. The lap dances abounded. Every man who had the balls to go up to her got one, even the drummer of the band and I almost sent my bud MC out to get one too until I noticed her one, fatal flaw--meth mouth. That is right. She had blackened and missing teeth. She was the poster child to the old locker room joke that if you put a bag over her head you could do her. I just feel bad that she didn't find herself that rich husband whom she could be the trophy wife for before she became the sad, old hag in the bar. Don't turn out like her! Wishing you the best year ever.....Mel
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
