Made For People Passin' Through

Liz and I were walking around in Nashville earlier this week (in the whopping 24 hours I was actually there) and we saw this intersection and had to take a photo. I mean, that's funny.
I got to see the Ryman which was also a pretty sweet moment, and tour the Nashville Predators (NHL) arena and got some team schwag from Brad, Liz's brother-in-law. It was quick, it was tiring but it was a sweet time with a dear, dear friend.

Root Ballin' 2k7

Budding

I wanted to post some photos from this past weekend, what with the Root Ball and all, but Blogger was being all wonky so the photos will have to wait. Anyway, here's a list of what's been playing through the earbuds lately.

Intervention--Arcade Fire
California Brown and Blue--Denison Witmer
Lover I don't Have to Love--Bettie Serveert's cover of a Bright Eyes song
Hotel Yorba--White Stripes
Easy From Now On--Emmylou Harris
Imetosis--Andrew Bird
Let's Pretend We're Bunny Rabbits--Magnetic Fields
How it Comes to This--Beth Amsel
When Mac Went Swimming--Innocence Mission
Wraith Pinned to the Mist and Other Games--Of Montreal
Brandy Alexander--Fiest
I'm Gone--Dolly Parton
Kathleen--Josh Ritter
In My Life--Johnny Cash (Beatles cover)
And, for some reason, old school Prince, specifically "Let's Go Crazy"

I'll try to post a real bit later, til then enjoy the list, check 'em out, I think they are pretty darn good.

Joy

So Harry Potter was awesome; both Liz and I finished it on Sunday afternoon. Not even two full days of complete and totally absorption but it was wonderful. I won't say what happened but the ending was fitting for such a series. Well done there J.K.
Liz flew in on Thursday and that night she and I met up with Robin and Jane at the Lucky Otter fo' some sweet burrito action before moseying over to Westville for a pitcher and inappropriate jokes. I knew that Liz and Robin would hit it off and whoa did they. I wanna bottle them and carry them in my pocket.
Great company, great beer, great night.
Friday Liz and I went out to Windy Gap so she could see what she's been hearing about for a year, then we stopped by Chris and Caroline's for a drink and a stern lecture on boys from Chris. I've never had a big brother type; it's rather sweet.
Friday night Liz and I met up with Josh at Salsa's for some overwhelming Cuban food, went to Zambra's for a drink before stopping by the drum circle to be overwhelmed by the hippiness that is Asheville. I love it. Love love love it. Jane was drumming and we waved and were very proud but we did not dance, as i didn't want to be gross and sweaty for the next three hours we were going to be downtown. The four of us (Jane included) made our way to Old Europe for coffee, cake and convo. The night just got better and better! Josh and Jane left and Liz and I were on our own to get our Harry Potters at Malaprops.
Life is better when the people who bring the most joy to your heart are surrounding you. Joy comes again without asking.

NNNNNNNERD!

Who's a nerd? Yup, midnight at Malaprops to get the pre-ordered Harry Potter. Liz and I didn't wear our Gryffindor robes but everyone else did. We apparently didn't get the memo. But we have our books, so if we don't eat/sleep/talk to you for the next few days, don't take it personally. It's just you are a muggle.

The Interim

This summer has been nothing like I expected it to be. I mean absolutely nothing like I thought it'd be if you were to have asked me in, oh, March. Everything I thought I'd be doing I haven't done and things I couldn't have imagined having are here. There's a sense of profound loss in the midst of shivering promise. It's been a time of quite a few highs and its own share of lows. I note this only because it seems very little falls between those categories this summer; apparently there is no middle ground here. I can't express how much richer and better my life is since the huge schism and shift of late May. Who knew really. In two short months everything since then has changed—friendships, relationships, future plans and dreams, priorities, free time, heck, even hair—and not only changed but have done so radically. I've definitely checked out from much of my pre-May life and for good reason. In all the kinesthesis of these past two months the movements have been decidedly away from that moment rather than around or toward. I don't intend that to be negative, it's surprising to me, that's all. I'm so thankful to be done with much and excited to see if this brave new path continues to impress and inspire. And daily Asheville becomes more and more my home. I know this is where I'm supposed to be. It's the first time I've moved somewhere without a sense of a definitive end date. Roots are going down tentatively. I'm here and I'm here til...

And with many, many good reasons to stay.

I'm blessed.

For the Day

Ladies and Gentlemen: Paula "The Beyonce of Clogging" Pound.
Just doin' her job at the hoedown.

Scarred Face

Most of my posts lately have been catch-ups; nothing thoughtful or deep, simply capturing the day to day. I feel like I've had a lot going on so it's not like it's been boring, it's just the one let down of having a busy schedule...not a lot of brooding time and I don't like posting too much on the day to day.

Lately thoughts have been on scars.
I have an abundance of scars from a myriad of adventures, mishaps and bad ideas and I really don't mind--each one is a story. I am marked by that moment but life goes on around it and on it. Every time I look at my right shin, for example, I see the time I split my leg open on a rock when I was a rafting guide. I'm reminded of that moment, but I don't feel the physical pain all over. I see it, remember it, and move on.

Late last night I was walking around the UNC-A botanical gardens (as one is wont to do on a Saturday night) talking to a special person about wounds and scars and what struck us is how the physical ones heal so much quicker than the emotional/mental blemishes. We were both shocked at how slowly we heal; how tender hurts from years past remain. And how many we've done to ourselves. Why does healing take so long? Is it because we can see physical healing, can mark its progress and the internal is so much more sublime and abstract?

Oddly enough the message at worship today was about scars--how even Jesus had to be scarred in order to change; for Thomas to believe he had to see those marks. Now I don't remember all my thoughts on it, but it is what I'm mulling over. Scars aren't condemning marks against purity or holiness; they are moments of life, showing pasts are real but not daily lived. More redemptive than I've ever considered.

"Scar tissue is the strongest tissue in the body. So I shouldn't be surprised if it's the strongest part of the soul." --Madeline L'Engle (originally from A House Like a Lotus but I took it from her devotional, Glimpses of Grace)

Rockin' the Boat

I went paddling for the first time in almost 4 years on Friday! The elation cannot be captured here but believe me, it exists very strongly. I was mentally dancing in joy. That morning Jane and I got boats from Diamond Brand and found what rivers were running. We went down to Saluda to run the lower Green, an easy class I-II 6-mile paddle. I was nervous being back in a boat—didn't know what I'd remember or what I'd lost completely. The first five minutes were definitely shaky; paddling is counter-intuitive most of the time. But shortly thereafter I was comfortable and excited to see what I could do in a boat slightly too big for me. Jane was working on fundamentals—eddying in and out, ferrying, etc—and it was a good refresher for me to be dusting off some rusty muscle memory. Nothing like teaching someone else to force oneself to relearn. Half way down I started to surf the little waves again and by the end I was actually side-surfing a bit. I didn't even try my roll; maybe that'll come next trip.

However...my back is really, really angry at me. About mile 4 I started to have spasms and I realized that's probably the limit I should be pushing; 6 is just a bit too far. I've taken to the philosophy that if I'm going to be in pain constantly I'd rather have it be from things that I love to do rather than just from the mundane life of bench warming. Paddling is something I've missed dearly and something I can't wait to do more often, regardless of the pills I'll have to take later.
And believe me, I'm FEELING that trip. Holy crap.

We did fit two boats on Jane's car too--roof racks be damned! That's awesome!

U R A BUS

As most of you know, I have a Subaru.
I love my Subaru very much. I actually hugged my car when I bought it.
Its all-wheel drive is so much fun around curves and great in snow, it gets great gas mileage and has good pickup.
When I bought it, I committed to it for 8 years or so; I wanted this car to get me through my 20's.
I still want this car to get me through my 20's.
I mean, I hit 100,000 on it last Tuesday in Tennessee and I cheered and sang to my car while I drove.

However, last year it developed what we'll call a nervous tick, in that when it was put into drive, it didn't like to immediately engage in drive. I'd have to wait or rev it a bit before it would get into gear. Once I was stopped behind a school bus and when traffic started to move my car wouldn't; I was stuck trying to get it to engage for two hours.

Last summer I took it to the dealership where I bought it and still had it under warranty.
They told me nothing was wrong with it, changed the transmission fluid, held it for five days and sent it home.
The problem persisted; heck, it got worse.
I took it back.
They held it for another five days (this time they gave me a loaner car thankfully), told me there was still absolutely nothing wrong with it and sent it home with me and told me to stop bringing it in.
Today I took it to a transmission specialist who thinks I need a whole new transmission, a $3000 repair.

I cried.

I called my mechanic who doesn't think I need a new transmission but rather a part in that transmission fixed and he had me call a Subaru specialist outside of town. Just from what I told him he was able to tell me what was wrong: faulty O-ring in the transmission, a problem many of the Subarus of my year were having. A known, documented problem. A $1400 problem. Better than $3000, but still enough to make my stomach gurgle.

One stands to wonder, “If this was a known and documented problem as the nice Subaru specialist says, then why didn't the Subaru dealer, in all their dealership wisdom, bother to check or fix the problem when I took it to them twice, complaining of the same problems that identify the defect?”

Anyone got an answer?

Anyone?

Let the nasty letter writing commence.

Dulles Motor Cars of Leesburg, VA: you shiesty bastards are buying me a new transmission.

(Note: U R A BUS is SUBARU backwards)

Coon Dog Day

So yesterday was Coon Dog Day in Saluda and since Jane's family has been vacationing there since the turn of the 20th century, it's a big deal. Yes, yes it is a holiday complete with a parade, dedicated to the sheer awesomeness of coon dogs. Not corn dogs (CAROLINE), not corn holes (JANE), coon dogs. Why? Because it's NC and everything needs a festival. If there is beer and funnel cake, I'm all for it. Caroline, Chris and I joined Jane and her family for an afternoon at the lake house and square dancing in the street at night. Though it should be noted I didn't square dance. All in all it was a really fun, funny day.

No comment needed. Caroline and Jane ladies and gentlemen. That's what old roommates do.

Caroline, Jane and James in action. Again, no need to ask any more from a photo from that.

Caroline. Chris and Jane eat something very American. As they should.

Caroline Louise, meet Caroline and Louise. Crazy.

High on a Mountain

Saturday night was out to Shelby and Dave's house for the Old Timers of AL Reunion and it was an opportunity to see faces and hear laughs that I've missed dearly for three years or more. Mario, Dave, Dan, Shelby, Hillary, Elena, Anna and Austin were all there and there is something to be said about friendships that pick up right where they left off; people who know each other so well that pretense is abandoned willingly. It was a late night but a calm one to be sure. Sunday morning I drove up to Natalie's for a late brunch (and to get my dresser! Woohoo furniture!) before heading out to the real ODB to fill up 7 growlers with beer (not all for me, 3 were other peoples) and try to figure out how to fit them in my car around my dresser and other boxes. I only got to see my mom and my little sister briefly which was a low point; I would have liked more time (Are you getting tired reading this? I am and I did it. I need to remember to try not to do everything when I go back up to VA) Sunday evening I went up to the mountain for the 10 year reunion of AL and once again the hugs abounded and the laughter was easy. I love being part of something that monumental in so many lives; being a piece in a legacy that endures. My first summer there were 13 people on staff and of those 13, 6 were at the reunion (and that was 7 summers ago!) I think we had the best ratio...Again with the dancing, the singing, the goofing around, shenanigans in every corner. Crawled into bed around 2 and got up at 9 and had coffee with the old timers in the house. We really are much older; talking about mortgages, loans, IRAs and insurance. Mind you, we all used to live in tents. This is quite funny growth.

Elena, Dave B, Dave K and Scott in his Betty Boop on a motorcycle "RESPECT IS DUE!" shirt. Long story.

Oh jeez. Scott, Dave and Mario act out their favorite tiger joke/pick up line that has never worked. Ever.

The directors of years past: Elena, Dave K, Fern, Dave and Shelby B. Great leaders.

Awww...Brian was a camper with Scott and Elena and now look how messed up he is. The original three from 2001: Hillary, Shelby and I.

Yup, the night just got funnier. Dave, Emma and Helen

I have no idea what is going on in this photo but I like it.

Hillary and Elena, back together again for one more night of open-mouthed dancing.

The District

Whew! Remember in the old cartoons when the coyote would run in the air for a bit before he actually took off at great speeds? That's been me this past week or so. Friday I drove straight to DC for the Bad Idea Girls 14-hour funday at ODB. Ran in Murphy's house, took a quick shower and then the lot of us (Sean, Jonas, Des, Romano, Murphy and I) were off to the Pug and the the ODB brewpub in Chinatown, which really is a over-priced knockoff of the real thing. Sad in a way, but they do sell their beer by the Tower (133 oz! And no Romano, you're not supposed to try to drink it alone...). At ODB we met up with Jeter and makejoefamous, two special guests who lightened up the evening as always. Sean, Des and I had a great conversation out by my car in the wee hours and we didn't crawl into our luxury futon til 3am, only to be up at 7! What? They were going to the shore for the day and I was heading to LoCo for some visits. Spent the morning with my dad and dear ol' Uncle Phil is just the same as always. Seeing him makes life better.

The bad idea girls in action...Murphy, Spooner and Romano.

Seany is the luckiest boy ever... Romano, Murphy, Me, Jonas and Des

So we were walking back from ODB and there was this giant chicken...

Umm...a hotard? What the heck is a ho-tard?

Murphy and her touring band? Jonas and I are doing some serious "West Side Story" snapping.