April-May 2018

Sometimes people ask me ask if I'm really into cameras and photography and whatnot.

"Oh, it's just for fun. Really, I just like to take pictures in preparation for when I get Alzheimer's."

Confession: After 7 years of posting monthly albums to Facebook, I still can't explain what ISO stands for. Or what aperture is. I have no idea what I'm doing with this camera in my hands and pretty much take all my photos on 'Auto'.

The main reason I take photos is not so much for how pretty they look or for a particular love of technology, but more that I just want to capture moments so I can remember them later.

I get so caught up in the To Do's of Today and Tomorrow that I forget all the wonderful people I've met, the wonderful places I've seen and the wonderful memories I've created.

With the endless emails and work, it becomes hard to see how grand and vast life has been and how good the world is and how much further it expands beyond the confines of my inbox.

These photos serve to keep me grateful.

Right now, yes, I am responding to another painful email (didn't I just send out an email about this two days ago??), but oh, earlier this month-- ah, we made a lot of good memories then, didn't we?

To be honest, I think I'm better than average at spending time alone.

I'm quite okay with being by myself and deep in the recesses of my mind.

But there are times to be alone and there are times to be with friends.

I love throwing parties and organizing events and I love eating delicious things with friends.

Hot pot is definitely a delicious thing.

We sang our hearts out in empty rooms and ran in empty streets lined with glowing lights.

We bet on the stars and won and they came down on us like glitter.

We lost our way and found ways and wondered if this was it.

If this was it, it wasn't so bad after all.

After all, these moments as fleeting as they had been had

Felt like magic.

I've packed away the cams and nuts to focus more on sport climbing.

Three years of trad climbing, and I'm letting it all go.

It's time to clip some bolts, try hard and fly!

As Captain used to say, in sport climbing, if there's an even 1% chance of making a move, just go.

The muscles and endurance and techniques required in trad climbing haven't really transferred over well to sport. All the bouldering I've been doing has made me a lot better at getting through individual moves, but I don't really have the power endurance to send things well.

But it's getting better.

Between my first day at Gold Wall this season to my fifth, I definitely improved a lot.

I'm excited to see how far I can get.

I'm excited to fly.

The exciting part of switching to sport climbing is being able to go to new climbing spots.

Camping in locations I've never been because there was no trad there.

It's exciting and refreshing.

It's also exciting to make new friends-- people I'd have never intersected with had things been different. It's a strange thing to think about.

Since all my previous partners climbed only trad (or just bouldered), I've had to try harder to put myself out there and find partners. It's scary but it reminds me that people are really good and wonderful.

Anyway my new partners are horrible sandbaggers and we went to B Word which is full of really hard things above my climbing grade, but it was a ton of fun anyway.

Even if they're horrible sandbaggers.

I spent a bunch of paragraphs talking about sport climbing but over Memorial Day weekend we went to the Grotto and I fucking love trad climbing.

Oh nooooo.

I love adorable things and I love arts & crafts and I love drinking tea and I love baking and I love parties.

So planning a High Tea Brunch is right up my alley! Scones, whipped cream, lemon curd, smoked salmon + avocado sandwiches, egg sandwiches, biscotti and a selection of teas with milk and sugar.

There is a very special part of my heart, beneath the hole-y leggings and caked layers of dirt, that is really just the most basic of basic bitches.

If I didn't need to make money and if multiple tendons broke so I couldn't climb anymore, I'd like to be a party planner/cafe owner.

It was Teacher Appreciation Day, so to celebrate, we sent a Coffee Truck to each of our schools to give free coffee to the school staff and parent volunteers.

Everyone was really grateful! I wish we could do more things like this for them.

We also had a big event at a local ale house with free beer and tacos. One of our custodial staff's families runs a taco catering business on the side and provided the delicious food!

Our community is really amazing. From the teachers and admin, to the custodial team, to the parents-- they all work really hard to make the community better. A lot of them run side businesses or do volunteer work or participate in local issues. It's amazing.