natural wonder

Good thing no one relies on my blog posts or posted pictures for proof of my survival because so far this summer I've had one of the former and zero of the latter - any pics you see of me come from my friends' speedy postings; I probably won't get any up 'til the summer's end. But that's beside the point. 

I haven't been able to decide what to write about. Not because there's nothing going on but because it feels like everything's going on. So when I sit down at the computer to write something, my brain runs at a mile a minute and my fingers don't know how to sort through it all. But I've been feeling like I need to write something, not just for proof I'm alive and well, but to help myself make sense of thoughts and include whoever's interested in the process. Anyway...

One of my biggest joys in working at the ranch is spending time in the great outdoors and helping kids to unlock its wonders. Though most of the time they don't really need any help doing the unlocking; kids are professional wonder seekers. (Out of curiosity I wanted to know what Merriam-Webster had to say about wonder and here it is: rapt attention or astonishment at something awesomely mysterious or new to one's experience. Read that again; it's really good). 

If you let 'em, kids will find newness and mystery everywhere: in the color and shape of rocks, i what they think is a bear's paw print in the sand, and in throwing pieces of stale bread toward chipmunks and watching them scurry toward a free meal. Days are made when kids are given the chance to freely explore nature, to climb boulders that feel like mountains, and to yell at the top of their lungs and pause for the echo. 

But here's the thing: Wonder-full moments aren't always convenient or safe. In order to experience times of newness or awesome mysteriousness, we (and here I mainly mean adults; I already said kids were naturals at this) have to slow down and to look at what we may have seen a thousand times from the perspective of a first-timer. When looking at the stars or out at the distant mountain view, sometimes the only appropriate response is to stop and say, "Wow." But sometimes we're too busy to acknowledge it, and we miss that moment of wonder. 

Other times we're too afraid. We might get freaked out by the idea of climbing a mountain in the dark to watch the sun rise or to take a step of faith off of a zip line platform, but if we let fear get the best of us then we miss out on the experience of wonder at the top of that mountain or at the end of that zip line. As someone who used to be terrified of breaching my comfort zone, believe me when I say that overcoming your fears is always worth it. 

Whenever I spend time in nature, I can't help but be in awe. Of its beauty. Of its mystery. Of God for creating it. Each wonder-full moment that I experience, however inconvenient or unsafe it seemed at the time,    draws me closer to God. And it's for that reason that I love afternoons of sitting peacefully outside, listening to the rain fall and the birds chirp, and just worshiping God for it all. And it's the same reason why I love introducing kids to the wonders of nature - because it's my hope and prayer that, just as I've met God so many times through His Creation, that one day the same might happen for them. 

reunited and it feels so good

Roughly two weeks ago I arrived here at the ranch. Within 30 minutes of pulling into the property, I'd donned my staff shirt and started hauling lumber out of the rec hall. And the best part of all this is that I wouldn't have had it any other way. That's just the way life is here - we work hard and we help each other out. 

But if I'm being entirely honest the work I do doesn't feel at all like work to me. (That is, if you define work as something that you do to pay the bills but that you could really care less about - and if that's the case then I pray I never have to work a day in my life). I feel incredibly blessed to be at a place where I know that the time and energy, the sweat and the prayers, that I invest actually make a difference. Sure there are times that I have to do things that I don't enjoy as much as others but in those moments it becomes more about why I'm doing it and not what I'm doing. Reminders of the "why" for me come in various forms - at the final evening gathering around the campfire when guests share how they were brought closer to God during the week, asking a simple "how are things going for you" to a guest and ending up in a beautiful 2 hour long conversation, or being hunted down by the kids I hang out with just so that they can show me the cool bugs and rocks they found - which maybe had something to do with the fact that I shared I have a rock collection of my own. It's the simple yet meaningful moments that make work here feel like anything but. (Side note: I have the joy of allowing kids to feel like the valued treasures that they are and to just have a blast being a kid alongside with them - but can I just say it's an incredibly humbling experience to have influence into a child's life and to know that what you do and say is being internalized?)

Two more things:

1. You never know what you might end up doing during a summer at the ranch. I spent a week becoming a pro at setting and waiting tables and doing other kitchen-y type tasks, and this past week I returned to familiar territory as a tweens leader. I've also gained some new skills this summer, like how to cook scrambled eggs in mass quantities (and I do mean mass), how to make fancy knots, and how to scale 50 foot poles without falling to my death. The knot tying and pole climbing would make more sense if I also added that I'll be working down at the new rock climbing wall and zipline this summer (super excited!) - so in addition to balaying and being responsible for others' lives I have to take my life into my own hands to scale that pole for setting things up. Even though my parents are probably reading this and thinking I'm crazy, I really do love it.

2. I've always wanted to pick up a hitchhiker. But being a female and usually driving alone I've never actually considered doing it. So last weekend I was in a car with several staff headed to a place just few miles up the road and we ran across these two guys with huge packs on their backs, walking down the road in the rain. Without much of a second thought, we stopped and picked them up (again, call us crazy but it seemed like the right thing to do... and it was). They were full fledged hitchhikers, alright (well, minus, the hitch). Turns out they were hikers who took a wrong turn somewhere and ended up miles away from where they wanted to be. Besides saying that they spent a good chunk of time with us afterward, the details of the situation aren't important except for what they told us afterward: in making that wrong turn on the trail they ended up in just the right place to meet us which ended up being a huge blessing to them. I don't include that to toot our own horns but to raise a question: In light of the end result, was their decision on the hiking trail really so wrong? Because for them, and even for us, it sure did end up being the right thing to happen. Hmm. Guess then that sometimes its the "wrong" turns in life bring us to just where we need to be. 

On that note, best be getting off this computer now. It's my afternoon off, and it's too nice of a day to spend it all staring at a screen.

the extra mile

Southwest airlines has become a big part of my life. I've flown with them many more times than I can count, and I'm as loyal a customer as they come. It's not just the fact that Southwest is cheaper or that I can fly two bags for free (which is a huge help to someone who flies with 3-4 months worth of belongings each time). It's the fact that the people who work there are just plain nice and genuinely care about their customers - or at least do a really good job of "fakin' it till they make it." Not once in all my flights with them have I had anything remotely close to a bad experience, and on the contrary I've had many pleasantly memorable encounters. For starters, the smiles. If it's possible to have a more or less genuine smile as a flight attendant, then these folks have the former down pat. I always get a smile that's not the I'm-so-relieved-these-people-are-getting-off-this-plane-soon kind of smile but the I'm-happy-to-be-here-and-want-to-share-that-joy kind of smile. And as every good psych student knows, smiling has tremendous effects toward increasing happiness, for the giver and the receiver.While showing off those pearly whites, they sure seem to enjoy the work that they do. That attitude rubs off on the passengers, too. The entire mood of the plane changes when you hear a flight attendant making jokes over the intercom or you see another attendant walking down the aisle in a brightly colored apron. And, though I personally have never been in a major pinch while flying with Southwest, I've heard many stories of the helpfulness of their employees in fixing the situation. So, thank you, Southwest for not just sharing the LUV but happiness, fun, and helpfulness, too. (Oh and if you're wondering what the LUV is all about then you haven't flown Southwest enough.)

But, contrary to what you might be thinking, this wasn't meant to be a free advertisement for Southwest... even though that's what it turned in to. 

As I'm sitting here in the airport of the Mile High City waiting for the shuttle bus to take me up to the ranch, I'm thinking about how much of a difference even the little things can make. Like sharing smiles. Or enjoying work and making it fun. It may not seem like much but added together all these little things can really change the atmosphere you're in and the direction of someone else's day. We always hear the phrase "go the extra mile" (and it has nothing to do with the elevation difference in traveling from Florida to Denver) and probably think of that extra mile as something arduous and burdensome. Sometimes it is. But other times going the extra mile can literally be as simple as exercising the upward movement of your facial muscles on a day when frowning feels much more at home with your mood.

So, folks, wherever you're at and whatever it is you find yourself doing, I encourage you to try and go the extra mile - even and especially when that mile is small. I'll be doing the same. 

fresh start

It's been over four months since I last wrote on this blog. That has everything to do with the fact that I was busy keeping up my study abroad blog aptly titled "How to Be a Great Dane" (if you want to know anything about my semester in Denmark and traveling around Europe that's the place to go). Since there are sadly no Danes to be found near me now, it's only appropriate to end that blog and return here.

This post finds me enjoying a final (less than) 24 hours in the muggy heat of Florida after a week-long respite with my family that was quite welcome after four months of roaming around Europe. This post also finds me preparing to leave for Colorado for a second summer at Wind River Ranch. Weird to think that a week ago today I was still in Copenhagen and that tomorrow I'll be pulling up to the ranch in the good ol' airport shuttle bus. 

Here's to the start of the next set of adventures!

Yup, my travel buddy Chester's coming to Colorado with me, too!

home again, home again jiggidy-jig

Every time I come home for a visit the transition becomes easier and easier. It probably has something to do with the fact that the more time I spend away from my family, the more I appreciate them or that I'm just growing up and learning to find ways of being happy no matter where I'm at. It might also be influenced by my reading of "The Happiness Project" at the beginning of the break and the subsequent list of things to do and ways to think that would make myself happier and healthier (happy to report that my small efforts did make a difference). For starters I decided to clear out all the clutter in my room, mainly boxes and boxes of old school notebooks. Yes, I was that kid who never got rid of anything. When friends of mine made bonfires at the end of the school year to dispose of dreaded schoolbooks, I carefully placed my things in a box that went in the closet. Then that box multiplied a few times and I was left with a whopping pile to go through. Kinda fun to rediscover everything from crafts I made in 1st grade to papers I wrote in 12th, but it's high time I got rid of the bulk of it to keep only what's important.

Pretty soon, though, (less than 3 weeks) I'll be off to Copenhagen. The Danes are apparently some of the happiest people in the world - despite the cold and extreme lack of daylight hours during the winter - so I'm sure I'm in for a good time. I've made a separate blog for my preparations and time over there called "How to Be a Great Dane" (my pun-loving friends and father have rubbed off on me). Here's the link: http://howtobeagreatdane.blogspot.com/ I'm sure I'll still post on this one occasionally but if not then it'll remain my American blog, awaiting my next return home...