Well, hello everyone. It’s been a while, eh?
How to explain the last two months of my life? In brief: training in Salem, Oregon with brief, tantalizing glimpses of Portland. A weekend trip to Rocky Mountain National Park during which I learned what it feels like to be a sea-level baby when the trailhead starts at 9500’ (we had representation from most of the ACC states in a line on the right side of almost every steep). A light show on and around a camper programmed to the beat of the Amazing Grace Techno Remix. A two-week rodeo festival that included multiple 10,000-person free pancake breakfasts, two parades, and a lot of hats. Seeing one of the NINE days of rodeo from a sweet seat behind the chutes and suddenly realizing that I live in Wyoming now. Having to move to a new apartment on the north side because my neighbor started stalking me and leaving me the world’s craziest notes. Cat-sitting and starting to lose my mind about not having a dog. Suddenly adding “hanging sheetrock and firetaping walls” to my list of responsibilities. Discovering the best bagel place in Cheyenne. Waxing, driving, and selling concessions from an ancient Winnebago that can barely get itself up shallow inclines; enjoying working the Farmer’s Market in general, even if it does require commitment of the hours between 6 am and 2 pm on Saturdays. Teaching myself to make buffalo burgers. Shark Week. Football season. Finding the sports bar for football exiles, which provides the most exciting NFL viewing experience possible: fans in jerseys of every color shouting at any number of thirty televisions. Movies and Shakespeare in the park, roadtrips to Casper, cultivating a favorite bar, and nighttime thunderstorms.
I might get into more detail about any of these things at a later date, but for right now, just the snapshot. One final note: did anyone else completely miss that the Ravens are one of only two NFL teams with a marching band?? (The Redskins are the other.) I will never again taking the Marching Ravens for granted.
over/under 