See? I do things.

I promise, I have been meaning to post! It is not always easy, as internet is spotty at best out on the road. Yes, I am on the road and am behind on my days. I thought on Saturday that I would try to post once a day every day this week. And today is Wednesday and I am just now writing.

 

I thought I would share some photos from the road, or in this case, the water. Yesterday, we cruised through Lake Powell (also known as the flooded part of Glen Canyon). Usually, the trip is just an hour and a half and then we go on our merry way.

 



 

Except, then we got a call. Well, the captain got a call. Another boat's steering went out. Rather than have their 98 passengers paddle, they called our captain to see if we can pick them up.

 

 

So we did. It took an extra 15 minutes or so, but between the crew members of both boats and the patience of all passengers, we completed our rescue mission. (Ok, ok, maybe that may be a little dramatic...)

 

 

Every once and a while, I get a few moments to myself. So after a day that started at 5am, I enjoyed a local amber ale, a kale salad (POW!- it packed a nutrient punch), and some light reading about the slave trade in the eightteenth century.

 

 

My days are busy and I have little time to think about anything beyond what I need to do next for the tour. But sometimes I take a moment to appreciate my surroundings. Last night, along with a nearly full moon, I watched oranges and purples battle each other as the sun set. Ultimately, a starry night won.

 

 

Small Fires Happen

"Small fires happen."

When my friend was talking about things I cook up, she meant figuratively. I also meant it figuratively when I said "as long as I don't burn down the kitchen!" And we laughed. She probably didn't know it, but her reply about small fires served as words of encouragement. Small fires do happen.

I have been playing with my color pencils. Fire is hard to capture.

Recently, I have seen quite a few folks around me who are clearly struggling with where they are in their life. I struggle with it, too, sometimes. We thought we would be somewhere else, doing something else, living someplace else. We made choices that brought us here and sometimes we feel like here is not where we want to be. And when small fires happen, it feels like the end of the world. The small fires feel like they engulf us because we fuel them with our own doubts. The sooner we accept that these small fires happen, the sooner we can put them out and move along.

I think it is important to keep "cooking things up." The more often you try things in the kitchen of life, the more often you are going to start small fires. The more often you start small fires, the better equipped you will become to deal with them. The better equipped you are to deal with life's small fires, the more you can experiment in the kitchen. Maybe this is not the best example of life's cycles, but it is what I have been pondering.

I never want to stop trying. I never want to get so caught up with the "oh, I wish I had" that I forget I am still alive and opportunity is waiting for me. So here is to today's small fires! May you appreciate them in the moment and later be able to see how they helped shaped your future.

Forever Amazed by Technology

I like to imagine throwing my computer out the window, sometimes. That tends to happen when the device does not do exactly what I want exactly when I want it. I forget how magical it is just that technology like this exists.

The other day, I needed to print something from my laptop. I was downstairs, my printer was upstairs. I knew both devices had Bluetooth capabilities, but I had not actually used the two together before. I was lazy enough to give it a shot. I pressed "print," selected the correct printer, and waited. A moment later, a message popped up about the ink status of my printer and asked if I wanted the document in black-and-white instead.

What? What was that? My computer was effectively communicating with my printer? I clicked "yes" and ventured upstairs to see the result. There it was, glowing in the plastic printer tray... a piece of paper with my words, my very own printed document. My brain exploded! Everything on my screen traveled through space to become a document on a different floor!

When I was five years old, I was floored by the idea of a fax machine. At a local science/children's museum, there was a room with fax machines set up. Kids got to draw on a paper, fax it, and then see that their drawing was replicated across the room. My little five-year-old brain broke after I saw my drawing appear across the room. How could that happen?! I examined the cords and decided there was no way a paper rolled up could fit through the wire. The whole concept was likely scientifically explained, but I would always chalk it up to some form of magic.

Bluetooth is a technology that I still vaguely understand (and yes, it has been scientifically explained to me). It ultimately gets filed in the "it's magic!" part of my brain and I cease to be amazed by technology. Now, watch this. I am about to press a button and this will post to a floating magical webpage and you will get to read it from anywhere in the world (with internet access)! How is that not amazing!?

It is the little amazements that quell that urge to throw things when technology acts imperfect.