Off to the Absarokas!

I won't be posting anything new for at least a month. I realize this is somewhat normal, unfortunately...

But this time I have a good reason. I'm heading out on a backpacking course tomorrow morning with NOLS, and I'm so excited! There are 8 students on my course, and we have two instructors. I've had a chance now to meet everyone, and honestly, everyone seems pretty great so far. I think we're going to have a great time!

Technically, I'll be working during this time, seeing what NOLS courses are all about, I guess we could say I'll be drinking the Cool-Aid... I've been working here for a year and half, and I now finally get to see what our courses are all about on a personal level and experience the curriculum firsthand. I'll even get to teach some of it since it's a course designed for people who have a potential interest in working in the outdoors.

Here's a link to the NOLS course description online: http://bit.ly/VFLHx

And the new 2010 NOLS catalogs arrive in Lander tomorrow morning! Feel free to request a copy from the website (www.nols.edu) or head to the same place to check out the virtual edition (basically the same thing, you can flip through the pages, see pictures, read text, and click on a variety of links). Designing the catalog, and coordinating the printing of it are tasks that have consumed the majority of my working (waking?) hours these last... 5 months. I'm ready for a break!

I'll be out until September 22, so if you're the praying type, pray for safety and good community among my coursemates, for leadership development all around, for good attitudes, healthy people, lots of wildlife sightings, but no bear attacks! NOLS has only ever had one bear attack in 45 years of operation (something like 3 million student days!).

We're heading up to the Absaroka (ubs-or-kah) range, just east of Yellowstone National Park here in Wyoming. It's filled with high plateaus and valleys with rivers and streams where I hope to catch my first fish! My good friend Nadine was just up there instructing a course and said they could see hundreds of elk on a regular basis. The birds should be heading south, and we may get to see some leaves starting to turn colors too! We may also get to see wolves, elk (bugeling!), and moose. Mooses? Meece?

I'll be sure to post good stories when I get back!

pilgrimage

I'm getting really excited for my NOLS course! We leave next week. A week from today, I'll be packing up, and maybe even already on the road to the trailhead for 18 days of backpacking, and 4 days of rock climbing.

I just got an email from one of our admissions officers with one parent's description of his feelings about a NOLS course after his 14 year old took a course this summer:

A NOLS trip is not a tour. A NOLS trip is like a pilgrimage. On a tour as a tourist, you only experience something new. On a pilgrimage, as a pilgrim you become someone new. Pilgrimages take you somewhere to a transformed life. That’s what NOLS does. It takes people somewhere to a transformed life.

The course I'll be taking is focused for outdoor educators, so I'll be traveling with people who either work in the outdoors, want to, or want a deeper experience with the leadership curriculum.

I'm excited to get outside, I'm also really excited to get out of the office. For a month. Especially now that the 2010 catalog is done. Or at least it will be by the end of the week.

Oh, the press check? Yeah. That. It was long, somewhat painful, and a bit brutal. But it was grand. What matters most is that it's over.

herbie spotting!

A couple weeks ago, Intern Rachel and I stepped out to hit the farmers market over at the Cooking Crow, and ran into this little guy at 3rd and Main on the way back. I grabbed my camera quickly, as the light turned green.

Farmers Market scores: zucchini, squash, dill, potatoes, bread, collared greens, and swiss chard.

carless.

No, not careless.

Carless.

Me.

Yep. It's going to be so great. I really hope I don't start freaking out in 3 weeks at the thought of not having a car. Or, rather. In 10 weeks. That's probably when it'll hit me. In a few weeks I go on course. Before that I press check the catalog. Until then, biking around town is normal summerness around these parts. Maybe I won't even notice for a while?

Here are a few ways I can combat the convenience (read: unnecessary and expensive dependence) of having a vehicle in Lander:

- pack a lunch when biking to work. thus, the hill won't piss me off when it's 90 degrees outside and I need to go home to get food.
- wear a backpack and grocery shop at least twice a week, in smaller increments
- continue to bake bread at home, this translates to no squished backpack loaves, and less-expensive, tastier homemade bread
- pay my roomie as necessary for rides out of town (ie. to the airport)
- carpool as usual with friends to such out-of-town activities as hiking and climbing (& thus be generous with said friends when purchasing post-climb beverages at the LB)

It's just that easy, right? It seems so simple right now. Let's see how it goes. I'm going to have to learn to be patient and/or wet when it rains. I'm really not too worried about that, though.

So my car is at a consignment shop at the moment. Shane seemed to think it'd sell within a few weeks. Here's a link to his posting online. Once it sells and my loan is over with, I plan to buy a more comfortable-fitting bike to ride around town. The question now is :: townie or road bike?

I'm leaning toward townie bike. Upright posture. Cute basket. Etc. With the possibility of a road bike later, like maybe next summer. What do you all think? Any bike recommendations or tips on living without a car?

soil

Whether people are conscious of it or not, they actually derive countenance and sustenance from the 'atmosphere' of the things they live in or with. They are rooted in them just as a plant is in the soil in which it is planted.

–Frank Lloyd Wright

The newest DWR catalog arrived today, and of course I've found about 15 things that I'd love to have. Most of them would fit quite nicely in my yet-to-be solidified dream home. I really like the above quote from Frank, it's on page 22.

As a kid, there was a framed message frequently in our various kitchens. I particularly remember it from when we lived in Cheyenne. It said "Home is where the Air Force sends you." Another said: "Bloom where you are planted." Cheesy. But good. That attitude from my childhood obviously helps in my life now as I'm moving around so much, as friendships change, and roommates come and go. As I harness those turns in life and attempt to accelerate through the transitions, stronger after the next curve. For a small town, there's not much stagnant life among the community I'm connected with here. It takes a while for sediment to form. Even small layers of sediment feel comforting in relationships. This attitude of blooming has made all the difference; accepting the soil I'm in, and growing accordingly.

But how much does the soil affect us? How much does having 3 other roommates affect my well-being? And is that good or bad? How much does it affect me when I don't have quite the same friends this summer as I did last summer? Am I reinventing myself every 3 months as I make new friends on a rather consistent basis? How much does it affect me, as a designer and occasional homebody, that I'm living in a halfway-decorated home? With horridly ugly (free) couches? And a dirty kitchen floor that none of us really care that much about to clean very often?

I'm home on a rainy evening in July. It's nice. One roomie's out with her mom. The other two are hiding in their rooms. It feels more like fall. Like October. Like it could snow tonight. But I bet it won't. Maybe in the mountains though. It's chilly.

I'm going to bake some bread. Trying a new recipe. Minus the whole wheat—I'm out. Then, I'm scouring a few books to pick one to loan to a friend, and hope to dig into Broken. I heard the author, Lisa Jones, speak this evening at the Noble Hotel here in Lander. She's originally from Lander, a NOLS-grad, and writes rather eloquently. Well, at least what she read was. I bought a copy of the book for a friend and hope to sneak in a read before giving it away.

But... if my attention span isn't book-ready, I'll probably just browse my newest and yet unread copies of Outside and Sunset. Excited for an evening at home, minus any sort of catalog-production stress. It feels strange. But quite good.

wellness day

Our publications team took a much-needed wellness day yesterday.

This looked like: coffee and breakfast sandwiches at Wildflour Bakery, followed by rock climbing at Wild Iris all day. I've only been out climbing a few times this summer, so I felt pretty weak out there. But it was great to get out, enjoy my publications teammates, enjoy the rock, and work on my footwork. strong toes. strong toes. trust little holds. you're on top rope. you're fine...

Here are some photos from the day:

the group: me, Pearson, Joanne, and Rachel. Rachel's our publications intern, we brought Pearson along (PR/Mkg intern) as a 4th to balance us out. She'll be writing for us more this fall.

Fearless Ms. P.

I took a bullet belaying Joanne! She was leading Claim Jumper. Super tricky moves up there. I caught her just fine, but ended up with my foot in a bush, later to discover an inch long, .25" wide stick through my shoe! It narrowly missed my foot by millimeters! Straight through the bottom of my shoe, and out the side.

Christi's friend Adam (5' 10") helped us clip a few tricky draws.

Rachel with her spankin' new pretty blue shoes.

Our fearless leader Joanne, up close and personal. "Are you really taking a picture of me this close?!" hehe. I love it though.

The Iris, at the end of the day. Wild views out there.

Red Canyon, a gorgeous section of the drive home.
****
Now, I'm off to visit Pioneer Days briefly with a few friends, and then to work on a Saturday. Somewhat lame. BUT it should only be a few hours today, and I'm excited to be there with no other distractions to be able to focus on all these images for the 2010 catalog. We're sending it all to press on Monday, so at some point I don't mind. I'm so excited to get it all finished!

On the note of working over the weekend: My friend Elizabeth Saunders has some advice. We're going to talk in the next few days (perhaps post-catalog) about a Schedule Makeover! It sounds somewhat silly, but necessary (people need house-makeovers and look-makeovers, but a schedule makeover? yeah. me. hand raised.). I need some help balancing it all without getting burnt out. I'll be sure to report on how our conversation goes. Elizabeth's a friend from college, and I've always appreciated her wisdom. I'm excited to see how it plays out in this arena of scheduling and priorities.

Want to check out the 2009 catalog? Here's a link. Enjoy.

upcoming attractions

My roommate Xiaoying is from China. She lives in the basement. If my life were a movie, she'd be in it. For sure. Right now she's traveling with a German man she met through a friend. I think. I hope she doesn't get abducted. I'd have no idea where to begin looking for her, other than a few national parks. I say they're dating, but she's more bashful to admit it. Elyssa thinks I'm insensitive and crazy for thinking such things (more so on the abduction end of the speculation spectrum). She also says it's rude for me to be so nosy. Xiao thinks it's weird that I ask so many questions.

Pearson calls her Xiao. Shaow. Chao. I'm not convinced she likes it though.

She doesn't wear her glasses as often as we'd like her to. Once, Elyssa was talking with her in the kitchen. Left, then came back shortly. Xiaoying then thought she was me. All us caucasian girls with brown hair all look the same at some point, I suppose.

Anyway, I am thinking of Xiaoying because she is supposed to get back today. Or soonish at least. I don't remember. I am a bad roommate.

My other roommate Elyssa is leaving for some time in August, and it will be my responsibility to water her garden. I really hope I don't kill all her plants. Just in case I do, I'll be leaving for 30 days shortly thereafter. So if I kill all her plants and she is mad at me, hopefully she will get over it within those next 30 days.

I'll be going to a magical place called the Absarokas, which sounds more like Ubs-or-kuhs. There are grizzly bears, and other large animals that I'm excited to see and then hide my food from. I'm really not quite sure what to expect, and I think it's still just far enough away for me not to worry about it too much. But I am getting excited more and more. Partly excited for a break from the office. Partly excited that it'll still be for work. Partly excited to hang out with people who sign up for corses that say "outdoor educator" in the title. Parly intimidated. Partly excited to see this curriculum we all talk about so much put into action in a real live expedition situation. I still can't believe I've been working there for a year and a half and haven't taken a course yet. Man. This better be good.

It will be.

Today I dropped off a note for a friend in her re-ration. When courses are out for long periods of time (read: nearly every course), they get re-rations. That way they don't have to carry 30-120 days worth of dried-whatever on their backs. Seems like 9 is enough. I sent her a card that I made, it had red shoes on it.

NOLS currently has something ridiculous like 43 courses in the field in Wyoming. That doesn't even count the other branches that are operating right now. Instructors are coming and going like mad, occasional injuries make things more exciting. People get shuffled around and I run into people at the bar who I thought just left, but in fact it's already been 30 days and what do you know, they're back already.

And I'm still designing the catalog.

People always ask "how's the catalog coming along?" "are you done with the catalog yet?" "what's on the cover this year?" -- all valid questions. Especially considering the fact that I work on it for nearly 6 months of the year. Once it's all wrapped up and done, I'll head to the wilderness, come back, design a couple things, say Merry Christmas, go snowshoeing, design one or two more things, and then jump into the 2011 Catalog. That's crazy.

We're so close to being done that it's not even funny. I'm not freaking out this year, which is awesome. It's still stressful though. And it's eaten a few of my weekends, and several evenings a week for a while now. Not fun. But we're at the stage now finally where I just get to tie it all up in a little package, whatever's in there stays put, I add a big red bow, and send it off to magical printer-land where they make proofs. And we change things. We add commas and correct photos. And then there are more proofs. And then I travel to someplace really really hot in August (last year: Vegas, this year: Iowa) to watch it come off of a really big printer at 2 am while I tell tattoo'd ex-cons to adjust the blues in the sky, and to make sure the orange bars match each other. Great job, thanks.

I really should take pictures of the press check this year. I took a few on my camera phone last year. If I were technologically savvy enough, maybe I could show them to you sometime.

Alas. good night. I haven't been sleeping too well lately, hopefully getting this randomness out of my brain will remedy the situation.