Today I remembered that I have this blog. It took some searching, but I eventually managed to pull it up again. It was fun to read some of the old posts, cringing at a few and feeling something akin to pride- or at least amusement- at others.
So are my six readers still out there? Just curious.
I think I might try to write a few more posts. It's a good creative exercise. I think I will continue to aim for non-weighty topics, as the weighty ones come with too much responsibility. I will avoid any subject that requires me to form or share an educated and well-researched opinion-I will leave that to the professionals, who are among the many things that I am grateful for on this Thanksgiving Eve.
I wish the world a happy Thanksgiving! I am thankful for the good people everywhere who fight the good fight and exert their positive influence in their unique way. I aim to be more like you.
Wednesday, November 27, 2019
Sunday, February 15, 2015
backyard camping fail
It was the summer of 2013, and my family had met up in Flagstaff for a week of adventure, relaxation, and togetherness. We stayed in a cabin in the mountains just outside of town.
One night I thought it would be nice to sleep under the stars. No one else shared my fantasy, so I had to go it alone. The cabin had a spacious deck in the back that stood about four feet above the ground, with steps leading down into a sparsely wooded pine forest. I selected a spot on the deck, spread out my sleeping bag, and settled down to enjoy the starry night. It was backyard camping at its best.
I had only been asleep a few hours when I was awakened by the lights of a truck rumbling down the dirt road near our cabin. It stopped in front of another cabin about 100 yards away. As I watched, two individuals climbed out, slamming their doors. Their voices carried to me, though I couldn't make out what they were discussing. They began to walk through the forest, the light beams from their flashlights sweeping back and forth in front of them. Dismayed that the stillness of the forest was shattered, I turned to my side to block their bombarding lights and sounds.
I lay that way for several minutes, slowly drifting back towards sleep. And then I was yanked back to complete alertness. I can't say what triggered my senses, but when I opened my eyes, I was instantly aware that those two distant flashlight beams were now very close. By turning to my side, I was completely unaware of their approach, but now both beams were shining right on me from ten feet away. I sat upright, motivated equally by surprised fear and extreme irritation. What the devil?! I have no idea what I intended to say to these inconsiderate (or worse) yahoos, but it was going to be aggressive.
The beams were blinding me from the edge of the deck. So close! As soon as I stirred, one hastily called out, "Put your hands up! This is the police!"
Well there was little chance that the girl rolled up in a mummy bag was going to to be able to either put up her hands or pull out a weapon. Seeming to realize this, the light beam voice went on, and I must emphasize that this is a direct quote, "We're looking for a bad man with a knife." Oh yeah? A bad man with a knife.. And then, perhaps my favorite part, he asked, "Have you seen anyone around here with that description?"
"Uh..." I actually paused and thought about it. Why that required any thought on my part must be attributed to the fact that I really felt a desire to be helpful to the policemen searching for a bad man with a knife. But alas. "...no." Sorry.
Their parting words to me were, "We'll keep looking. " And then, "You should be alright here." And with that, they moved off again into the forest, sweeping their flashlight beams in front of them.
You should be alright here? I pondered that. They did, after all, think that I was the bad man with the knife only about 30 seconds earlier. But they said I should be alright. And the air was chilly while my sleeping bag was very, very warm. If I were to go inside, I'd have to get out of my bag first.. That settled it. I was about to lay back down and go back to sleep when my mom opened the door.
"What did they want?"
"They were looking for a bad man with a knife."
"Get inside."
Ah, yes. I should go inside. Thanks, mom.
I never did check the police beat. I hope they found their man.
One night I thought it would be nice to sleep under the stars. No one else shared my fantasy, so I had to go it alone. The cabin had a spacious deck in the back that stood about four feet above the ground, with steps leading down into a sparsely wooded pine forest. I selected a spot on the deck, spread out my sleeping bag, and settled down to enjoy the starry night. It was backyard camping at its best.
I had only been asleep a few hours when I was awakened by the lights of a truck rumbling down the dirt road near our cabin. It stopped in front of another cabin about 100 yards away. As I watched, two individuals climbed out, slamming their doors. Their voices carried to me, though I couldn't make out what they were discussing. They began to walk through the forest, the light beams from their flashlights sweeping back and forth in front of them. Dismayed that the stillness of the forest was shattered, I turned to my side to block their bombarding lights and sounds.
I lay that way for several minutes, slowly drifting back towards sleep. And then I was yanked back to complete alertness. I can't say what triggered my senses, but when I opened my eyes, I was instantly aware that those two distant flashlight beams were now very close. By turning to my side, I was completely unaware of their approach, but now both beams were shining right on me from ten feet away. I sat upright, motivated equally by surprised fear and extreme irritation. What the devil?! I have no idea what I intended to say to these inconsiderate (or worse) yahoos, but it was going to be aggressive.
The beams were blinding me from the edge of the deck. So close! As soon as I stirred, one hastily called out, "Put your hands up! This is the police!"
Well there was little chance that the girl rolled up in a mummy bag was going to to be able to either put up her hands or pull out a weapon. Seeming to realize this, the light beam voice went on, and I must emphasize that this is a direct quote, "We're looking for a bad man with a knife." Oh yeah? A bad man with a knife.. And then, perhaps my favorite part, he asked, "Have you seen anyone around here with that description?"
"Uh..." I actually paused and thought about it. Why that required any thought on my part must be attributed to the fact that I really felt a desire to be helpful to the policemen searching for a bad man with a knife. But alas. "...no." Sorry.
Their parting words to me were, "We'll keep looking. " And then, "You should be alright here." And with that, they moved off again into the forest, sweeping their flashlight beams in front of them.
You should be alright here? I pondered that. They did, after all, think that I was the bad man with the knife only about 30 seconds earlier. But they said I should be alright. And the air was chilly while my sleeping bag was very, very warm. If I were to go inside, I'd have to get out of my bag first.. That settled it. I was about to lay back down and go back to sleep when my mom opened the door.
"What did they want?"
"They were looking for a bad man with a knife."
"Get inside."
Ah, yes. I should go inside. Thanks, mom.
I never did check the police beat. I hope they found their man.
Thursday, September 12, 2013
miscommunication
I’m still chuckling about an encounter last Saturday. I
helped guide a group of kayakers on a Potomac flat water tour and one member of
the group was deaf. She was such a sweet, kind girl and we were able to
communicate well enough through pantomimes and gestures and the help of her
companions.
At the end of the tour, when we had dragged all the boats
out of the water and were preparing to depart, she looked over at me and blew a
kiss. Unsure of how to respond, I just smiled at her. She blew me a second
kiss. I hesitated and then blew her one back.
It was only later that I realized she was simply saying “thank you” in sign language.
Has anyone else made that mistake? It doesn't stretch the imagination much to see all the problems with the similarities between these two gestures. What if she thought I was flirting with her and behaving totally inappropriately in a professional setting? There were plenty of other ways for me to
respond. A nod and a wave would have sufficed. But I blew her a kiss back.
Wednesday, July 10, 2013
breaking down barriers/ a new low, or alternatively, a new high
Want to know what I did on the 4th of July? I'll tell you. I visited Boston! We saw historic sites and took tours and watched street performers and ate yummy food and generally had a smashing American good time.
It was pretty hot. Want to know what I did to cope with the burning sun and the stifling heat? I'll tell you. I used my umbrella! (I called it a parasol.)
Some friends preferred that I walk at a distance from them. Others wanted to get underneath the umbrella with me. The only others who had brought their own umbrellas were the Asians.
Those Asians know how to celebrate the 4th properly, while the bulk of America exercised their freedom to get skin cancer.
Perhaps I reached a new low. All I need to complete the image of hopeless eccentricity is a fanny pack. (I wouldn't rule those out. They are quite practical.) But I prefer to see myself as a pioneer. A trend setter! A leader! I bravely and stoically flaunt what the Too-Cool wouldn't be caught dead with, and in so doing liberate myself from the shackles of style and normal behavior. Won't you follow me?
It was pretty hot. Want to know what I did to cope with the burning sun and the stifling heat? I'll tell you. I used my umbrella! (I called it a parasol.)
Some friends preferred that I walk at a distance from them. Others wanted to get underneath the umbrella with me. The only others who had brought their own umbrellas were the Asians.
Those Asians know how to celebrate the 4th properly, while the bulk of America exercised their freedom to get skin cancer.
Perhaps I reached a new low. All I need to complete the image of hopeless eccentricity is a fanny pack. (I wouldn't rule those out. They are quite practical.) But I prefer to see myself as a pioneer. A trend setter! A leader! I bravely and stoically flaunt what the Too-Cool wouldn't be caught dead with, and in so doing liberate myself from the shackles of style and normal behavior. Won't you follow me?
Friday, May 31, 2013
Eloquent
My friend Kay just left to be a missionary for the LDS church. This is what she posted on her facebook page the day before entering the Missionary Training Center:
“Tomorrow. ....Oh my hell.”
On so many levels, what a thing to say! Am I offended? Au contraire, I think she summed it up quite succinctly. Her phrase is a poem that could be quoted and dissected.
And also, I think the poor thing could use a hug. Honk if being a missionary was one of the hardest things you ever did!
May God bless you, Kay.
Sunday, May 19, 2013
Human Encounter/ Social Fumble/ I Felt So Bad
As I was biking home on Friday I came to a place in my route where two paths intersect. I needed to turn left but there was another biker approaching from the other direction, right there in my left-hand turn path, and he needed to turn right. In other words we were right in each others' way.
He was there first so I slowed down. He saw me coming and, perhaps acting as a gentleman, he also slowed down. Realizing that he was going to wait for me to go first, I sped up and rounded the turn. The other man's bike slowed nearly to a stand still as he waited for me to pass. Without warning, he uttered a low, "Oh, sh__!" and he and his bike fell over sideways to the ground, his feet still locked into his pedals.
Yikes! I've never actually witnessed that before. I've never felt personally responsible for it happening to someone else, either. It was so sad! There was nothing he could do to break his fall.
I considered stopping to see if he was OK, but I was afraid. Maybe he would feel ridiculous if a girl who really couldn't do anything to help him anyways and whose fault it was that he fell over stopped to make an even bigger deal about his embarrassing fall.
Should I have stopped? Yeah, it was probably the courteous thing to do. Instead I exclaimed, "Oh no! I'm so sorry!" and stood up in my saddle to pedal quickly away (to gain more speed for the ensuing incline...)
Why do I do the things I do? I sincerely hope that someday my rational thoughts will compute fast enough to govern my split-second decisions. Someday.
Human Encounter/ Social Fumble/ What would YOU have done?
Etiquette class didn't prepare me for this.
I was having an animated conversation with a co-worker while at a party. We were discussing something about which we were both quite excited, and my friend started to spit a little as he spoke. Just a little, not really a big deal. Then it happened again, and this time the drop of spit flew out of his mouth and landed on my lower lip.
I didn't know what to do. The drop felt about the size of a medium-sized crumb and it kinda stuck there. Perhaps there were some actual crumb components because there did seem to be some substance to it. Anyways, I didn't know what to do. Did he know he had just done that? He certainly didn't acknowledge it. He kept looking steadily at me with unmarred excitement about our discussion. Should I call attention to the fact that he had done it, perhaps in a humorous sort of way? Maybe he wouldn't find it humorous. I could just calmly wipe it off my lip with a napkin, but that might draw attention to it and perhaps make him feel bad. What other options did I have?
I think a normal person would have just wiped it off their lip and said nothing. And if they didn't do that, they would have called out their buddy and laughed together about it.. and then wiped it off their lip. But not me. I just let it sit there. Rather than burst his apparent blissful ignorance, I pretended that nothing had happened. I tried to redirect some of my focus back to him while most of my attention was devoted to the fat spittle-blob hanging out on my lip, wondering if he had noticed it yet and was thinking how gross I was for slobbering like that and not wiping it off.
I was having an animated conversation with a co-worker while at a party. We were discussing something about which we were both quite excited, and my friend started to spit a little as he spoke. Just a little, not really a big deal. Then it happened again, and this time the drop of spit flew out of his mouth and landed on my lower lip.
I didn't know what to do. The drop felt about the size of a medium-sized crumb and it kinda stuck there. Perhaps there were some actual crumb components because there did seem to be some substance to it. Anyways, I didn't know what to do. Did he know he had just done that? He certainly didn't acknowledge it. He kept looking steadily at me with unmarred excitement about our discussion. Should I call attention to the fact that he had done it, perhaps in a humorous sort of way? Maybe he wouldn't find it humorous. I could just calmly wipe it off my lip with a napkin, but that might draw attention to it and perhaps make him feel bad. What other options did I have?
I think a normal person would have just wiped it off their lip and said nothing. And if they didn't do that, they would have called out their buddy and laughed together about it.. and then wiped it off their lip. But not me. I just let it sit there. Rather than burst his apparent blissful ignorance, I pretended that nothing had happened. I tried to redirect some of my focus back to him while most of my attention was devoted to the fat spittle-blob hanging out on my lip, wondering if he had noticed it yet and was thinking how gross I was for slobbering like that and not wiping it off.
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