Sunday Sentiment: Summertime Adventures

June 16: My cousin invited me to sing the closing song at her wedding. It was a very emotional event, as her father (my Uncle Dan) passed away in late March. It was also my debut performance singing for people outside of my friends and immediate family.

July 4: A dear friend invited me to join him in Boston for Independence Day. We enjoyed the city all afternoon, and in the evening we attended the Boston Pops Fireworks Spectacular.

Halfway through the performance, a lightening storm caused the forced evacuation of the Esplanade. 15,000 people were evacuated into the Storro Drive tunnel in Boston. After 25 minutes we were allowed back out, at which point the Boston Pops played their signature piece "Stars and Stripes Forever". Confetti rained down on us, and the fireworks began.

During the lightening storm and evacuation, the rain held off. As soon as the fireworks started, it DOWNPOURED. But it was a blast (literally)!

July 14: A picnic in Prescott Park along the Piscataqua River with some friends from college. We called it a "reunion" because some of us had since graduated, but I prefer to think of it as the first of many friendly gatherings. Each contingent brought something to add to the feast. I came with my own lettuce, local tomatoes & zucchini, homemade garlic vinaigrette, fresh oatmeal bread, homemade peach-plum jam, and grapes.

All in all, it's been a pretty fabulously eventful summer so far.

A Day Four Years in the Making

 

My friend Eva and I walked together at Commencement. Very appropriate because she was the first friend I made at UNH.

Gnarlz gives high-fives to Seniors as they begin to walk onto the field for the ceremony.

After the ceremony-- the graduate!

Adventuring

One of the best ways for me to internalize events, explore my thoughts, express my emotions, and spend some time with myself is to go adventuring.

When I was little, adventuring meant scrambling over rocks and between branches in the little patch of trees behind our garage. My dad called it the "Hundred Acre Wood" just like the forest in Winnie the Pooh. As I got older, adventuring became bike rides all over town, and hiking in the town forest with my friends. When I got to college, I found that adventuring was the perfect way to leave behind the stress of classes, homework, and social anxiety. I walked and biked miles of trails and roadways, discovering the most beautiful and tranquil places to sit and think.

I have experienced almost divine serenity in these places. Before I graduate, (in less than a month now) I feel that I must share with the world those wonderful spaces which helped me through my four years at school.

Spring is Here...and HOW!

Let it be known that today, March 22nd 2012, I spent an 85 degree day at the ocean. I dipped my feet in the frigid waters of the Atlantic, sat on the rocks, basked in the sun, collected trinkets at the beach, and gained a few dozen freckles. It was glorious.

The past week has been absolutely gorgeous-- and I don't mean that in the sense that I usually do at this time of year. Once upon a time, I considered 45 degrees and sunny to be the mildest March weather. In a traditional New Hampshire spring, a 45 degree day is rare, and one can generally count on a Nor'easter to sweep the region in the days following. But this week has been the warmest on record; five consecutive days of sun, blue skies, and temperatures above 75 degrees.

In many ways, I am taking the events of this week as a sign from the heavens. On Monday, I had a long talk with God. Since October, I have been an emotional wreck. I haven't allowed myself to be truly happy or appreciative of the blessings around me, and I've fallen away from the confidence and happiness that I have spent the past four years creating for myself.

Much of this emotional unrest has had to do with a relationship that I fell into at the beginning of the fall. In December, all that I had invested in this relationship-- my love, care, time, trust, expectations, physical and spiritual being, personal standards, happy moments, heartfelt discussions, and shared experiences-- was ripped away. I felt shipwrecked, trying to cling to one of these things to stay afloat as dark waves crashed over me. But collecting splintered wood will not help to restore the majesty of the ship.

As the weeks and months went on I tried to keep life in the relationship, even as friends. I am not the sort of person who will push people out of my life. I try as hard as I can to maintain contact and good feelings with others, and the months following our breakup were no different. My friends told me that I had every right to be angry at him--- he was the one who dumped me, after all-- but I still thought that kindness, interest, and friendly outreach would help us both to move on. After too many nights of frustrating conversations, lukewarm interactions, and angry tears, I asked God to show me what He wanted me to see in this situation.

Since my Monday conversation with God, I have been feeling lighter, clearer, and warmer. I have been able to let go of the feelings that have gripped my heart and soul for the past four months. It will take a long time before I can completely move on from this, but God has shown me what He wants me to focus on right now: my future.

The future can be so unclear sometimes. When you're young it looms ahead of you on the path of life, making every step toward it seem like a great burden. Sometimes it looks green and bright, like a beautiful spring day inviting you to run toward it and bask in its glory. Other times it can act like a fat black thundercloud threatening to block out the sun. The funny thing about it is that as long as you walk, and as many steps as you take, you never really get any closer. New experiences wait for you along the path, and sometimes you gather new friends as you walk along.

This week, God has revealed the future as a beautiful spring day. His reminders to me have been in the clear blue skies, the new green grass, the timid purple flowers, the cool and caressing breeze, and the warm sunshine on my skin. My future will be clear, bright, and happy.

Last Moments of Summer

Outside my window...the sun is brightly drying my freshly laundered clothes on the line.

I am thankful for ...the opportunity to have had an education and the guidance to complete it.

I am remembering ...previous summers and how nervous I was to go off to college!

On my mind ...getting packed and ready to leave for school tomorrow.

From the learning room ...1/4 cup of borax and a few gallons of hot water make an excellent and very effective pre-soak for dingy looking clothes.

From the kitchen ...tea now, and Cheezit chicken for dinner. Maybe with asparagus?

I am wearing ...denim cut-off capris, and my bandana patterned button-down shirt. Work clothes.

I am creating ...a compilation of all the things I want to take to school with me.

I am going ...to switch loads of laundry, and then upstairs to clean.

I am reading …"Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows" finally. I'm about 2/3 of the way through.

I am hoping ...that this year will prove to be a wonderful and successful last year at UNH.
I am hearing ... "When I Fall in Love" sung by Renee Olstead.

Around the house ...hair tonics for getting rid of blonde highlights, laundry soaks, piles of dorm essentials, and shoes are everywhere!

One of my favorite things ...sitting with my family and talking after dinner.
A few plans for the rest of the week ...moving in to my dorm for the last time tomorrow, then helping everyone else move in on Friday and Sunday.

Here is a picture thought I am sharing ...

The 2011 Garden

Spring is in the Air

Here in New Hampshire, Spring comes late. I can hardly remember a year that all the snow in our yard had melted by Memorial Day, but this year, Spring was REALLY late. At school, the University canceled classes on April 1st, because there was too much snow and ice to clear from the pathways. Just last Saturday I was home for Easter and our daffodils (which had just begun to bloom the day before) were covered by an inch of snow by lunchtime. Fortunately it all melted off to reveal a beautiful Easter morning so that we could have our egg hunt outside, but we were a little worried!

As I finish up my semester here on the seacoast, Daddie has been working away to start my vegetables for the garden. He's already direct-seeded potatoes, garlic, onions, parsley, beans, peas, lettuce, and soybeans outside, while inside the tomatoes, peppers, cucumbers, squash, and pumpkins are sitting on a heating pad in the bathtub to plant in May.

I'm so excited for pickling and preserving this year! I've been serving my dill pickles at every family function since last August, so it'll be fun to try some new recipes and stock up for the
coming year.

Blessings on Palm Sunday!

Hosanna, loud hosanna, the little children sang;
Through pillared court and temple the lovely anthem rang.
To Jesus, who had blessed them close folded to His breast,
The children sang their praises, the simplest and the best.

From Olivet they followed mid an exultant crowd,
The victor palm branch waving, and chanting clear and loud.
The Lord of men and angels rode on in lowly state,
Nor scorned that little children should on His bidding wait.

“Hosanna in the highest!” that ancient song we sing,
For Christ is our Redeemer, the Lord of heaven our King.
O may we ever praise Him with heart and life and voice,
And in His blissful presence eternally rejoice!

http://www.hymnsite.com/midifiles/umh27820.mid

Contentment

Today things are looking up. For the past few days I've been battling a bit of a stomachache which I assume is caused by an imbalanced diet (oops.) I know it's terrible, but this year I have had a bad habit of replacing real meals with cereal or tea when I know the best thing for me is leafy greens and iron. Today I've done pretty well, with one out of two meals so far eaten in the dining hall, and a snack from the cafe in the afternoon.

The weather is beautiful and I tried laying outside to research for my term paper that is due in a few weeks, but I only managed to be on the lawn an hour. As I sit in my room, sipping my Mint Mocha Chill and looking out the window, the sun seems to be taunting me with its warmth. Of course, in New Hampshire, when the sun is warm it doesn't mean that everything else is! A little after 1 o'clock, I laid out my blanket, spread my books around me, and began to read. At first it was nice to feel the hot sun on my back and head, but the wind picked up and tried to blow the blanket out from under me. It was not a nice Spring breeze like you read about in romance novels, but a New Hampshire Spring breeze that comes from the glacial depths of the White Mountains or blows inland off the freezing Atlantic. I am not a particularly attentive person to reading, and as such was distracted nearly every time a petal fell from the tree above me, or whenever a helicopter went by during its training flight. When my hair began to blow into my face so that I could not have seen what I was reading even if I had wanted to concentrate, I decided that Mother Nature was not willing to share nice Spring weather with anyone else quite yet.

I dropped my books and blanket in my room and headed to the cafe to obtain a treat which had caught my eye the previous evening. Being a Thursday afternoon, and having finished classes, homework, and an attempt at researching, I came to the conclusion that this particular treat was warranted. Besides, it would help my uneasy stomach.

I've just finished the last bit of the Mocha Mint Chill, and my stomach does feel better. My friend and I are about to head out on an adventurous walk, which will fool us into thinking that we've done some exercise for the day, and afterward I assume I'll have dinner with friends and go to bed early for once. Yes, my life is fulfilled for the moment. I am content.