Summertime

My own private Idaho.

Thinking about and planning for this summer is the number one survival tactic I have for this semester. I traded a lot to go to school right now, and it's really been a bummer. BUT....

I have a lot to look forward to. I'm going home.

My friend somehow roped me into a half marathon in May. Admittedly, she didn't have to try, I want to do it. A good kickstart to the summer and tangible goal to work towards. I have two triathlons scheduled for August - that as a first training milestone of the season seems appropriate. Anyone wanna join in? May 16, Boise, Famous Potato. There's a whole and a half, Lucky Peak to Ann Morrison. Badass. ;)

My grandparents, all four of them, are stunning people - I can't wait to spend more time learning from them. It's amazing to be able to know them well and hear their stories, collected over rich lifetimes of experience. They all have a great sense of humor, and are the best company. Tonight my mom's parents were laughing about their memory slipping. Grandma said "We have a new policy. If I can't remember it, and he can't remember it," points at Grandpa, and both say "to hell with it!" laughing and grinning from ear to ear.

Thanks to the help of a former supervisor at the first ski school I worked for, I've landed my summer dream job. It looks like I'll be crashing at the family cabin, riding a road bike to and from work, and getting paid to raft a favorite section. Best of all, I get to be in IDAHO. Shh, don't tell, but it is by far the most immaculate of all states. SHH! ;)

Eyelashes Beware!

It's always seemed counter intuitive to put these things reallllly close to my eye and clamp down.
Recently, that feeling has been justified. Did you know that if you squeeze hard enough, it's possible to bust through the little pad and lop your lashes right off? It is. Just thought I'd pass that on, while I'm sitting here waiting for 1/4 of them to grow back.

A Love Post

un .... I. verse

Walking the lines between faith
Insanity
And a recombinant solution of the two

Discovering slowly through the travail of time
Isolation
Gave way to association, actualized, and later realized.

Pledging for years a senseless, vague, determined
Investment
On human terms, in the format of minutes, miles nearer.

Giving without expectation of reward, knowing that
Individuals
Create the beauty of the whole, within

Forming lines that however parallel may never
Intersect
Traveling freely at speeds of light or held fast

Observing and learning to be complete
Identity
Undefined in the course of others

Being, verbs, all of them, enacted by the
Insoluble
That is the I within the universe.

------------------------------------------

A shout out to the refining properties of time, the years of faith and determination that heal retroactively the wounds of a decade.

To friendship within blood
To relativity
To time showing the truth of all things
To being unaffected by old crutches
To walking freely
..... breathing deep
letting go.

[Renewal. Restart. Refresh. Rejuvenation. Welcome.]

Icetastic Valentine's Day

Sleeplessness, likely due to the 65% cocoa chocolate consumed in V-day quantities, has me awake at this hour, taking a break from reading to indulge in my other favorite pastime. Blogging, duh!

My sister is a Valentine's day scrooge. Weird, since she's a total sap (sorry Dami, you know it's true) - she'll cry at just about any movie, likes roses, touchy-feelyness, romance, and is pretty dang affectionate in general. Plus, she's in a relationship. Still hates Valentine's day. None of the former really apply to me, yet I love Valentine's day.

I've never been in a relationship for V-day. I'd just broken up with someone a week or two before, years ago - he pulled into the alley of my apartment complex, left a rose and card, intending to knock and ditch. I lived on the third floor, and opened the door to hear him thunder down the last stairs and watch as he realized he'd locked his keys in his still-running car. I drove him to his house for the spare, we laughed about it.

Valentine's day wasn't a couple's affair in our house. Mom, sis and I would leave messages and doodlings on bathroom mirrors, and we'd get a vase of flowers just because. In high school, my seminary teacher (who is now my uncle-in-law, if that is possible) had us make BARF bags. Like their grade school inspiration, these would be filled with candy and cute notes. BARF stood for "Be A Real Friend," and it was a pleasant, thoughtful exchange. Usually.

Today was delightful. My girlfriends and I went ice skating, ate delish home-made chili, and dark chocolate. No make-up, no pressure, no nonsense. The company of good friends I already know and love, good food and fun conversation.

Much love!

JH

Blessed America

A shout out to the First Ammendment and the tenants protecting freedoms of speech and press. I love this country, turmoil and all.

Life as a journalist so far has been trying and rewarding. My articles have made the cover twice in the three weeks I've been writing for the Globe, and the article I'm currently working on will probably be up next Monday. Struggling to adapt to the massive style and structure shift from creative to journalistic writing, I am constantly learning and trying not to drown in the process.

The snow in Utah has seen some spring lovin' this week, sunshine and blue skies almost every day. Word on the web is that a storm is en route, rolling in to dispense some fresh powder sometime tonight.

Summer is not far enough away to avoid getting the spring chickens in a row, so I've been scoping out the prospects. There are two places that I see my Chaco-tanned, rowdy summer self: Moab and central Idaho. God willing, I'll get to spend a healthy amount of time in both places, and everywhere between. (ie Boise, the Wasatch, City of Rocks.) Ecstatic at the thought of straying the confines of the smoggy urban oven that is Salt Lake in the summer, relishing in thoughts of cold Idaho rivers, family and close friends at arm's length... YES, I will survive this semester.

JH