We had a cold front move through San Angelo Sunday evening. The high on Monday only reached 77°F and it was glorious! I don't waste these opportunities. There are paved trails within walking distance of my home, and on days as beautiful as today, I took full advantage. Normally, I walk only 2 miles, but that day I walked the full trail and did 4 miles. Some people may ask, why didn't you run the trails? Um...because I don't hate myself! Actually, I have a temperamental lower back that doesn't appreciate the high impact of running, and it is faithful to let me know of its displeasure the next day...and the day after that...and the day after that. Thus, I walk. And pray. And breathe the fresh air. Days like these won't likely return until late September or even October. I like to enjoy them when I can.
I was in Banff, Canada last week. Mountains, rivers, waterfalls, and pine infused air. I thought I would take hundreds of photos, but I found myself just soaking up the experience, soaking up the mountain vistas and good conversation. I still took a hefty amount of photos, but I felt more present this time around.
It’s cool this morning, as if Canada were saying goodbye and reminding us of what spring should feel like before we head back to the endless heat of Texas. I stood there on the balcony of our rental, for what seemed like too long, just breathing in the crisp morning air, laden with fragrant pine while the sun slowly rose in the east.
I don’t want to leave, but I can’t stay.
Journaling is something I've wanting to incorporate into my life. I'd made it a goal for the new year to write in the journal twice a week. Well...I failed that this month. Lasted longer than I thought I would. I'll still try and journal, but I'm not sure it will ever be a regular practice of mine.
Failure is part of life, and I definitely learned that I like to type more than write long hand.
A roommate brought his cat along and this cat HATED me. He used to hide behind the couch and ambush me. Yet, when my roommate was deployed for 6 months, all this cat had was me. I found him sleeping next to my left shoulder every night. This came at a period of time when, though I had many friends, I was known by very few. This was due mainly to my refusal to be vulnerable about my shortcomings. People knew who I was, but they did not know me. My struggles, my burdens, my ambitions, my desires, these were all kept safe and secure, deep in my heart, and I was miserable. Despite this being my fault for not opening up to my community, God saw fit to give me a small level of comfort by way of this small pain in the butt, named TicTac. Seven years later and he's now sitting in my lap. I'm much more vulnerable with my people, but it's nice a lap cat too.
Have you ever left work knowing you'd done a good job? Knowing you'd put in hours of labor and it meant something? Those are good days. Sometimes here at the National Weather Service, it feels like feast or famine. The saying "it never rains, but it pours", applies quite often. There are shifts that drag on for what seems like days, filled with mindless paperwork and training. Then there are those shifts where we're trying to squeeze as many seconds out of every minute we can get. Yet I wouldn't trade any of it, not even the slow days. I love this job and I am absolutely blessed to have it.
There’s an elementary school down the street from me. It has a big empty field. It used to be open with only a shin-high steal rail to keep cars from running through it. I walk down that direction quite often. It wasn't unusual to see people play football or running with kites. There's a fence around it now. I understand why it's there, with all the incidents that have happened over the years at schools I would never blame them for adding security for our children. Even still, it makes me sad that evil has won so often that we have to take measures like this.
