The Gift of Small Things

I stole this from a favorite blog called Dooce. If you don't read anything else this week or this month, you should read this. You won't be sorry ... unless you forgt your kleenex first. (If you tried the link before and it didn't work, try it again. I think I've fixed it.)

The Ladies: Backpack

Two weekends ago, I took my first backpack of the season. My foot doc made it very unclear about exactly when I could go backpacking since my surgery. The end of the summer after Labor Day seemed like a good long while to let my foot heal. It was a great trip.

The Ladies decided to skip the Beartooths this time due to inclement (blizzard) weather and go to the other side of the state on the border of Montana and Idaho. Stanley hot springs is a popular destination but we'd figured that we might have some luck as sole hikers given that it was late in the season.

The Ladies were very gracious taking weight from me (see the size of my backpack compared to theirs) so that I didn't have to worry about putting too much weight on my foot the first time out.

We traveled to a campsite close to the trailhead on Friday night. We stopped at Lolo Hot Springs to have some dinner and a $1.50 Bayern beer - YUM! We camped in the VW van and there it was that I pledged my lifelong love and devotion to the Volkswagon van. Remember friends and family how I told you to commit me to some mental help if I ever decide to buy a van? Let me amend that request to EXCLUE the VW van. It is the BOMB.

That night we sat around drinking another beer before we crawled into our cozy, comfortable, cushiony beds (in the Van) and marveled at the SIZE of the trees. No kidding. At one point, we argued about whether it was a shadow cast from some unknown light (did I mention we had beers?) or a real tree. Finally we decided it was a real-live-honest-to-goodness tree on steroids.

We got to the trailhead and headed on down the trail. It was overcast but didn't rain on us and actually was quite warm on a couple areas on the trail exposed to the sun. It was warm enough to allow a fellow hiker, on his way OUT thankfully, to be hiking BUCK naked. Well ... with the exception of his boots and his backpack. Or I'm assuming he was wearing boots because I didn't look long enough or close enough to figure out what he was wearing - just what he was NOT wearing.

We hiked about 5 miles into the hot springs and were pleasantly surprised by how nice they were. We were unpleasantly surprised by how disgusting the camps were near the hot springs - toilet paper, food packages, trash. We found a spot perched up above the hot springs and camped there. It was nice and close to a small stream where we could get our water for filtering and back far enough from the main trail to keep us from being seen by every hiker along the way.

We soaked in the hot springs both nights while we sipped on the wine we'd earned from the hike. My foot felt especially good after a nice hot soak. And you can see how hot by the foggy look created by the warm water and cool air. Ahhh, so nice.


We kept our camp in the same place both nights. And the second day we decided to start off toward Lottie Lake. The topo map indicated about 4 miles to the lake and we were determined to get there ... until about 2.5-3 miles in and 1800 feet. We'd quietly, without complaint climbed and climbed, but finally decided we'd hike for 15 more minutes and then decide how much further to go. It's difficult to give up the idea of a destination after putting in that much work. On our final 15 minute ascent, we were literally HIT IN THE FACE by huckleberry bushes. FULL of berries. SCORE. Our destination - we need not go any further.

We picked and picked and picked and picked - filled a ziploc bag even after stuffing our faces while we picked. Once we recognized the bushes (because they'd slapped us in the face), we saw them for as far as the eye could see. It was then we realized the mistake of our quiet ascent. A bear's wet dream.

On our hike back out the final day, Monday, we were sad to go. My foot felt great, I was carrying even more weight than I'd packed in and we'd had a great time with The Ladies. On the ride home in the Van, I remember thinking, in my semi-drunk 2-beer state, while I was jamming to the tunes slung by DJ AP: I love ladies and am so glad to be one in the midst of such cool ones doing such cool things in a cool place I call home.

Thanks ladies.

Grandmaw

I spent the last four days in KC with Hubs and family while we said goodbye to dear, sweet Grandmaw Mary. And while she was an amazing 91 years young, the family was shocked to see her go because she was told she had years to live. She did her own crosswords puzzles, still lived in the house where she raised her children and married the love of her life. She still mowed the lawn and got her own groceries. My only contribution to her regular crossword puzzle on the weekend a year ago where I got to know Grandmaw, was the answer Britney to the clue Pop-star Spears. She finished the rest of the puzzle without help She was curious and inquisitive about life until the day she passed on.

Grandmaw would have smiled that big smile if she'd seen the gaggle of grandchildren and great grandchildren that gathered to honor her. We even got to hear a recording of her voice to the oldest cousin in her once-per-year ritual message to all of her granchildren on the eve of their birthdays: "Goodnight you little 39-year old."

Rest in peace, sweet Grandmaw. May the lesson of your life carry on through your children, our children and the rest of those you've touched. I feel blessed to have gotten to know you.

And Then Comes Marriage ...

Last night I finally heard my phone rining, with my see-star JDoc's very own ring, at 8:50 p.m. my time which is 9:50 p.m. her time. I had a moment's worry that it was an emergency because she just doesn't call that often and when I got to my phone there were 5 calls. And then, AND THEN I REALIZED. She's engaged. My little sister; engaged. I knew it because Doc boyfriend gave some very big hints to FamDoc in the recent past (not recent enough if you ask me ;-)) and so I knew it with my very being that this was the call I'd been waiting for.

And I was right.

Doc boyfriend proposed to see-star JDoc on a boat on the St. Croix river last night. He stuffed the ring into a cracker box and until JDoc discovered it she wondered why the hell Doc boyfriend was so interested in crackers all of a sudden. He took pics of the box while ignoring the gorgeous bluffs and he ate cracker after cracker and ignored the chicken salad sammies they'd prepared for dinner.

And then JDoc dug in and discovered something down there. She repeated, "WHAT IS THAT?" a few times knowing full well what it was. But finally she dug into the now-depleted cracker box and pulled out the ring. After all the excitement of kissing, hugging, crying and modeling the ring in the way JDoc does this sort of thing, she realized that there was something missing. So SHE finally asked HIM, "Will you marry me?" He said yes. JDoc wanted to hear the words too so he repeated the question to her. And she said YES!

And that's how their relationship will be ... she'll take over where he leaves off; they'll fit together so nicely; and he'll be there for her when she really needs it. Perfect start to a very long life of happily ever after.

Congrats JDoc and Welcome to the DocFam Dave. I am so honored to be a part of your beautiful story.

Readers ...

I am currently wearing my new reader glasses. They aren't bifocals like the Eye Doc suggested. Rather, they are the reading glasses you find on a twisty rack with frames in a rainbow of colors that are generally reserved for the geriatric population. The only ones I could find, until I received a tip from a co-worker, were ones with rhinestone paw prints in the corners of the frame, or the ones with bright blue cat print for frames, or my favorite, the metal silver frames the size of the popular sunglasses that cover to mid-forehead and down to the lower cheek; cool for sunglasses, not so cool perched on my nose while reading.

And even though I've found reading glasses per se, I haven't been able to easily find the low-strength glasses I need: 1.00. Apparently the reading glasses industry tailors their styles AND strength for the advanced age and therefore, advanced need for magnifying. There are a variety of styles for the 2.00 to 3.50 strength. I tried them and thought they might cause seizures; one should never operate machinery while wearing those things.

Thankfully, I described my situation - not picky; don't really care what they look like; not ridiculous; and definitely not rhinestones - to a co-worker friend and she suggested my favorite grocery store - the Real Food Store. I rushed straight there. There were the usual advanced age styles and strength but if you looked close enough, and I did, there were semi-stylish-not-ridiculous tortoise-shelled 1.00 strength reading glasses tucked in and away where no one ever looked; I think they were even dusty.

I may not look geriatric; but I look serious and very wise (and scary?) ...

On What I'll Look Like With Glasses Perched On My Nose ...

Internet, it's been so long ...

Yesterday I visited the eye doc. He told me that my prescription had changed only slightly and that my eyes look generally healthy. Except when I told him that my eyes were more blurry and tired lately, he told me that they just needed a little help from the strain I put on them all day. Oh, okay. What help can I give them? To which he responded, "BIFOCALS."

Oh sweet Jesus.

Yep, I have to wear those glasses that sit on your nose for reading and computer work (which is generally ALL I EVER DO!). They remind me of my 6th grade science teacher who was probably a very sweet lady but she invoked the fear of death in us because of how serious those glasses made her look. She also had a chain that held them around her neck so that every now and again she could take them off and they would stay put around her neck. But she never did take them off so it just served to make her look even MORE serious and more witch-like. I think she reveled in the idea that no one would DARE forget that photosynthesis made plants green if she just looked the part of a witch and didn't have to invoke those powers against us.

Looking back, Ms. Breding was nothing but nice to us and I learned a great deal from her - including how to win points to earn some fruit roll-ups (another story). But the way she looked with those perched glasses never did leave me...

Another Gem

Time for another gem from the "Friendly" neighborhood convenience store ...

I was standing at the counter and someone approached behind me and asked, "What does that say on your back?" I explained that the tattoo symbol on my back meant, "Peace and Harmony." To which he replied, "Cool."

Seconds later, he was out of his shirt displaying his tattoo on the same place on his upper back which he described as the John 3:16 Bible verse written in Sanskrit. To which I responded, "Cool."

And because it was a large tattoo, I asked the common question, "Did that hurt?" To which I got a not-so-common answer: "Well, I got it in prison so it probably hurt more than it should have."