Well, I finally went hiking! My roomie told me that if I was going to go deep in the canyon I should have bear spray. I don’t own any of that, and as I’ve gotten this far in life without too much trouble I headed out thinking I’d be just fine. Heh. I wanted to go the three miles to the next trailhead and then come back. I headed into the canyon with my backpack, water, sweatshirt, granola bar and I forgot my knife. No bear spray. I kept thinking about my hiking in Alaska…when I went into the woods alone without telling my parents...I was lucky then, surely that luck would hold out right?
Well, before I left I had a conversation with my cousin about the development of the human brain. Apparently your hypothalamus is what helps you regulate the concept of what is safe and dangerous, and does not fully develop until you are 25, which is why most youth think they are invincible, myself included. Sigh…in my opinion one of the saddest things you lose growing up. So, I was hiking along and then I stumbled across…oh yes, you guessed it…a deer leg!! One thing about hiking here is that people are very few and very far between. For the first time in my life I was afraid of the danger of actually running into a bear. Immediately I started getting paranoid, planning my Discovery Channel rescue, where would I get white to make an X (still don’t have an answer), what would I eat (I left my granola bar in the car by accident, with my knife), how would I find shelter. Okay, realistically I was probably only a mile from my car, but still…for the first time in my life I was afraid of something like bears and I realized that my hypothalamus must be fully developed. Despite this warning, I kept going through the canyon anyways singing out loud (good thing no one was around, I hurt my own ears a little), went as deep into the canyon as my hypothalamus would allow, found a nice place by the river (which is class 5!), read, wrote in my journal, watched the clouds go by. I even found a patch of purple butterflies that were very compliant in letting my take pictures of them. I wanted to drink from the streams that were trickling from the snowmelt, but again my hypothalamus said “What if you get giardia or some other micro bacterial disease?” Ew. And I stopped.
I don’t intentionally do stupid things, I just do things and then realize how stupid they are when I finish. So despite having not actually seen a bear, the leg was enough to freak me out. (I suppose it could have been coyotes). Regardless, I now have a personal policy of not hiking alone, and I am buying bear spray. I still kind of want to see a bear despite the fear…go figure!). Seriously people what is happening, since when do I think of these things ahead of time?! I miss my invincibility cloak. Haha, instead of invisible, invincible? Get it? Okay, moving on to more important matters…
Part of my job is watching the yps (young peoples) do their school work; get anything they may need, answer questions, etc. Yesterday we had staffing, which is when we come together as a staff and talk about each client and what they need and get on the same page for each person. During this time we take turns being in the school house. I must have been tired, because I spent a portion of time in the silence pondering the science of eating an apple:
Eating an Apple, a sort-of reflection by Tracie Petitti
What is the best bite of an apple? Is it the first bite, where you partially enter your teeth into an apple and a big crispy chunk comes off? What about if it is soggy, is it the last few bites by the core, knowing you successfully suffered through the whole thing? What about the bite that says “mmm, at last I made it around the entire circumference?” Do you like the top by the stem, like eating the cliff after you’ve devoured the center? Bites with skin or without? Maybe the best is when our apple is sliced, when you puncture the knife in the side and the juice comes out like Old Faithful (that might be an exaggeration…)? Maybe the best bite is not a bite but that juice on a hot summer day, right out of the fridge. Well, whatever it may be for you, as for me and my gang (my teeth, mouth), we like the first crispy bite, and find it most disappointing when the apple is soggy.
Even stranger, I actually had a few conversations about it. My poll shows that most people’s favorite bite is the first. What about you?
Oh yeah…I’m moving. Surprise! If there is one thing about life that should not surprise me, it is how much can happen in a few days. If there is a second thing about life that should not surprise me, it is that Murphy’s Law will never cease to exist in my life. I finally got all unpacked and settled and yesterday after staffing I learned some surprising, don’t know how I feel yet news: Are you ready? (I mean really really ready?) How attached to my writing are you? I can’t believe I’m sharing this via a blog.
Okay, here we go…drum roll please…as most of you know, I came out to Wyoming expecting to work with troubled teens. I guess God had a different plan for me because after a day of unease in my heart, yesterday after staffing I learned that I have officially been locked into the young adult program! Yes indeed, instead of working with fourteen 13-17 year olds, I will be working with six 18 and up-ers. I’ll let you know how I feel once I catch my breath. I have to move to a new house by Friday, which means I should probably be packing. However, for the first time in nearly a year I have the choice to relax first. Plus, though this job is not physically draining, it is mentally draining, I’ve been “on” for 72 hours and once again my life is whirlwind. I’ll keep you updated on my new life at JTL (the acronym for the young adult program), but overall I think I’m excited.
I’m glad life is a roller coaster, one inconsistent, exciting, new roller coaster. Wouldn’t it be boring if life was like a circle caterpillar roller coaster at fairgrounds? You’d get sick, literally.
Please keep me in your prayers as I adjust, learn, and prepare to accomplish His will for me this year!
God Bless,
Tracie
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