35

I had meant to write this post weeks ago, but then the Internet stopped working and life got a little bit crazy...so, yeah. Everything has aligned, and service has been restored. Now to the story...

I think I mentioned before that my intent for a spiritual retreat was to visit the red canyons of Utah. When I got there, however, I couldn't make myself go. I recoiled at the thought of standing on the edge of vast space. (Interestingly, I ended up flying over it several times the past couple of months.)

Canyonlands was a park that had shaken everything loose when I visited four years ago. I had no idea of the magnificent landscapes that would mirror my insignificance in the grand scheme of things.

The reluctance this time around still makes me wonder: What am I afraid of? Is it fear, or is it truly wanting to retreat?

Someone who has read my astrological chart told me that I will be entering a new period of my life in the next year. So I'm in the process of shedding or morphing or whatever the right word is. I'm raw and feel exposed.

The last five years have been challenge to myself-to feel uncomfortable, to do what I had only dreamed of doing. I think on many fronts, I succeeded. But I'm tired of pushing.

I feel the latent feral-ness wanting to rear its head. I don't know what all this means, but it does feel as if I want to pull in and hibernate to protect myself in this vulnerable state.

NaNoWriMo, here I come

This was my October marathon: hiking the Grand Canyon. It was absolutely beautiful beyond words but absofuckinlutely* tough. Due to varying circumstances, I didn't have time to train adequately, and now my body is rebelling and giving me more of the same crud I had last year. Meh. But it was worth it.
On Sunday, I start my next adventure. Succumbing to yet another challenge (or maybe pure insanity), I've decided to write a novel next month. It's part of National Novel Writing Month, or NaNoWriMo. All it requires is writing 50,000 words in 30 days! So, yeah. It should be exciting, or something. I think I'll like the disciple of knowing I have to write 1,667 words per day. They don't even have to be quality. To quote NaNoWrimo, "Make no mistake: You will write a lot of crap. And that's a good thing. By forcing yourself to write so intensely, you are giving yourself permission to make mistakes. To forgo the endless tweaking and editing and just create. To build without tearing down." My kind of challenge, and a reminder that writing is not editing. I have a vague outline of the novel, but most of it will be improvised as I go along. I can't wait to see what unfolds.

*Yay for infixes!

El tiempo loco

Since I was getting a little stir crazy, I decided to take a mini-vacation over the long weekend. When I left town on Friday, it was 52 degrees in Burque, 40 cooler than earlier in the week. As I went over the Glorieta Pass to northern NM and the temperature dipped into the 30s, I thought, the roads might freeze tonight! It had rained earlier in the day, and the interstate was still wet. It's been a crazy spring.



On Saturday, instead of doing my "long" run, I decided to take advantage of the beautiful weather and scenery. So I climbed this:



I'm not sure how I made it to the top, other than putting one foot in front of the other. It kicked my ass more than any five-mile run could.

This week hasn't been too hectic. I took the big step today of filling out the paperwork for my independent license. It should all be in the mail by next week. Now I need to start studying for the exam...

I always find something to fill up my free time!