During the first weekend in October, I traveled to Albuquerque, New Mexico, to see the annual Balloon Fiesta. The balloons were colorful and big as expected, but what impressed me most was their quietude. Despite hundreds of them hovering in the sky, all that could be heard was the occasional propane burner releasing hot air into the balloon.
The Fiesta was the primary reason for the trip; however, other highlights included:
• Petroglyph National Monument
• Santa Fe
• Hyde Park aspen groves (at their peak!!)
• Taos Pueblo
• Rio Grande Gorge.
In June, I went to Yosemite with my mom and my aunt. This was their first visit to Yosemite and it had been almost five years since my last visit, so it was a fun trip for all of us. What I enjoy most about Yosemite is how it makes me feel very small. I like how nature can so quietly and elegantly put humans in their place. I find comfort in knowing that there is something greater than mankind on this planet–something that we have not harnessed and that we don't fully understand, a beauty that we can't recreate.
Small
Beneath the towering red wood
That is soft and fragile, yet fierce,
Below the imposing granite walls
Supporting the very Earth
From which they came,
Amidst the vast valley
Where the river flows
And the bear roams
And the mist and wind compete,
I am small.
The world is greater, is wiser,
And I am at peace.
My favorite furry companion of 9 years passed away yesterday, and I am amazed at the size of the hole that she left in my heart. Peanut, a cat who had the social personality of a dog, brought so much joy to my life. For me, she was the glue that held everything together–the one constant that always brought me joy. From Idaho to RV living to branching out on my own, Peanut was by my side. She introduced me to my neighbors providing me with a sense of community; she took walks with me at night; and she was always within reach (often on my pillow) in my bed at night... a true kindred spirit who I love and miss so much.
Over the past two years I have been supporting the education and public outreach efforts of NASA's newest lunar mission, and on Thursday, June 18, I was privileged to watch the two featured spacecrafts launch on their journey to the Moon. I spent the eight days leading up to the launch sharing the news about the mission with the guests at Kennedy Space Center's visitors complex. It was a hectic week, with ups and downs juggled between the launch of our lunar mission and the launch of the STS-127 shuttle mission to the space station. The ups were getting to see (and touch!) the Atlas V rocket at the Vertical Integration Facility and then to see the over 200-foot tall setup poised and ready to go on its launch pad. The downs were that twice I woke in the wee hours of the early morning and dressed in eagerness to watch the space shuttle launch, only to receive a disappointing phone call saying that the launch had been "scrubbed" due to technical problems. (It's no easy task to go back to sleep at 3:00am with a let down like that.) Add to that the daily back-and-forth discussions as to which mission (shuttle or lunar) had launch priority and how the weather forecast was stacking up, and you can see how the emotional roller coaster took its toll. Even on launch day, the anxiety didn't let up. At 2:30 in the afternoon, we arrived at the viewing site and spent the next 3 hours sitting in the humid Florida heat watching the threatening rain clouds build and move closer and closer to the launch complex. There were three opportunities to launch: 5:12, 5:22, and 5:32. The first two time slots were "no go" due to the impending weather, and the third slot looked pretty bleak. Then, just as heavy disappointment was setting in, the announcer said launch was a "go" and the exciting checklist dialog and final countdown began!
The experience included a mixture of excitement and mild disappointment. The overcast clouds limited our viewing of the rocket to about 30 seconds which was a bit of a let down, especially since we could still hear it rumbling above the clouds for several seconds. However, seeing the billowing smoke and the bright orange flame as the rocket lifted off from its pad followed 10 seconds later by the loud roar of the engines was pretty spectacular. It was truly awesome standing there watching the rocket move straight as an arrow into the sky like a pencil on fire while reflecting on all the effort that went into planning the mission, designing the spacecraft, and coordinating the efforts leading up to this moment. Then, to me, it was even more exciting to think about what was happening after the rocket left Earth's atmosphere – the firing of the second stage after 4 minutes, the separation of the orbiter after 45 minutes, and then the eventual flyby of the Moon after 4-5 days. It fascinates me to think about all the work that each little instrument and robotic spacecraft component will do over the next few months while we go about our day-to-day lives here on Earth. Pretty amazing!
http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/LRO/main/index.html
http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/LCROSS/main/index.html
After visiting Paris, I flew to Reykjavik for a weekend visit and absolutely loved it! Geologically, Iceland is a fascinating place. Just imagine being on the big island of Hawai'i... only much further north and covered in snow in the winter. I saw geysers and enormous water falls up close and personal; I relaxed in the milky mineral waters of the Blue Lagoon under a full moon that never set; I watched the slow motion rising and setting of the sun; and I became enthralled with the adorable, stout, furry Icelandic horse. The northern lights never appeared (due to the ever-present full moon), but that's okay. I will look for them during my next visit. ;-)
In early December I traveled to Paris and spent three days enjoying the city of lights in the off season. The weather was cold and the crowds were few, which made the insides of cafes and museums all the more inviting. I have been to Paris once before 12 years ago and enjoyed it then, but this time I gained a new appreciation and love for the city. I rediscovered the Louvre, Notre Dame, and the Eiffel Tower (decked in blue lights in honor of France's EU presidency), and I made new discoveries such as Napolean's Tomb, the late-night bustle of Champs-Elysees, and the underground catacombs. I even enjoyed the French people and discovered how far a simple "bon jour" or "merci" will go.
My grandpa is 97 years old and one of my favorite people. He was raised in the Panhandle of Oklahoma, and he spent his life farming wheat and raising dairy cattle on a section of land just a few miles from the dugout in which he was born. He survived the Dust Bowl and the Great Depression, and he built his own two-story barn all by himself using his hands and the tools he had (amazing!). After he retired from farming in the 70's, he took up wood working and spent the next 30 years building and refinishing furniture. In 2004, at the age of 93, he finally sold the farm and moved in to the local town. He now lives in a nursing home but is still sharp as a tack. I had the opportunity to visit Grandpa while I was home in October, and we went to the local history museum to see an antique sleigh that he had refurbished years ago (see picture). I treasure the time we spend together and love listening to him laugh as he recaps the stories of his life.
I can't stand to miss out on special events and experiences, so this year I decided that attending the annual Thanksgiving Family Reunion was worth the cost of holiday airfare. On Thanksgiving day, 50 members of my extended family gathered together for a tasty potluck lunch and then enjoyed an afternoon and evening filled with a baby shower, an ornament exchange, televised football games, a book club discussion,
Three years ago my immediate family, two cousins, and a cousin-in-law started a tradition which has come to be known as "Alternate Thanksgiving." Since the early 1980s, my mom's side of the family has gathered every year for a family reunion on Thanksgiving Day in Muskogee, Oklahoma. Due to expensive holiday airfares, I missed attending the 2006 and 2007 Thanksgiving reunions, thus the Alternate Thanksgiving holiday was born. Now, every October I travel home to Amarillo, Texas to spend a week with my parents and sister's family. On the first weekend that I am home, Sara and Anne (cousins) and Tim (Anne's husband) come to Amarillo, and we all spend a fun filled, small scale reunion weekend together... just like the real Thanksgiving but in October!
Autumn is a beautiful season to visit the Panhandle of Texas, and if the weather cooperates we usually have a cookout in Palo Duro Canyon. We also carve jack-o-lanterns and do A LOT of visiting. This new family tradition is very dear to me because for one weekend I get to spend time with my favorite people and enjoy the comforts of home. This year we made bat pumpkins, visited Palo Duro Canyon, and hosted a Halloween party for my sister's three children and their Sunday school friends.
A little over a month ago I started riding the train to work. Actually it's more complicated than simply "riding the train" because I have to drive 9 miles, ride two trains, and walk 1.2 miles in order to get from home to work, which all in all takes about 2 hours from apartment door to office chair. But I don't mind; I actually really enjoy it. I certainly don't miss sitting in traffic and I like that I'm saving my car 200 miles a week, but mostly I just really like riding the train. In fact, I love it! I like hearing the ACE train blow its whistle when it arrives and departs the station. (Sometimes I hang around the parking lot just to hear the sound – seriously.) I like feeling the gentle movement of the train car, and I like glancing at the rural scenery as the train winds through Sunol. I like working on my laptop and knowing that when I get to the office I will have already achieved a full hour's worth of work (something that can't be done while sitting in traffic). I like sitting in the different train compartments (the bicycle car, the quiet dimly-lit car, the upper level, the lower level), and I like watching the people and recognizing the familiar faces. I like how the train roars in to the station with the powerful chugging and clanging sound but how it is completely quiet while it sits at the platform waiting for passengers to unload and load. I even like the cheerful colors of the train itself, which is painted purple, white, and blue. Maybe it's that my granddad was a railroad engineer or maybe it's that my parents have an album of train songs that we about wore a hole through listening to growing up, but for whatever reason I love trains. And as for riding the train to work, it doesn't save time and not really any money, but it has saved my sanity and well,...it's just nice.
on IMG_6857