a kid did this bit today

We had grilled chicken wraps for lunch and a kid said he was gluten free and we didn't have an option for him and he said, oh it's okay I can have a little, I'm not allergic. And we were like, okay, sorry about that, here you go. And he said, thanks it's fine. 

And then as he's walking away he quietly says, time to die. 

I'll try this one out this summer

I'm gonna start cataloging all the great bits I come up with.

most of them are used on children. 

I'm gonna see how long of a streak I can get with at least one bit per day.

it's a constant game of

through sleep and proper hydration,  I can do great things. 

if you get the questions right

you win a junie b jones book.

if you get the questions wrong, you get the green paper of shame taped to you

Another Day of Living

I spend too much time scrolling and looking at stuff. I think if I write more I'll spend more time in that head space.

My sister sent a link to the video Bat Fight by Will Ferrell and it felt like eating real food instead of junk food. Maybe that's an absurd comparison but it's a genuinely funny and well made song. And it's completely ridiculous but it felt different compared to tiny tiny short videos or comics or whatever you get scrolling on Instagram or YouTube. 

So anyway okay I'm gonna try to stay writing again. 

a fox just ran right past me

like not 10 feet from me.

sitting out here on the stoop because my roommate earlier walked into the dining room where I was sitting and proceeded to drop an entire container of almonds on to the floor right next to me and go "sorry!" and it triggered my fight or flight response and I came out here to blog and relax. 

so yeah fox. fox is running by. fox friend. 

It was the full moon on my birthday

It's almost a full moon again. I would like to be more aware of the moon. I spend too much time looking at a screen. It's destroying my eyes and brain. 

One time when I was little my mom said that sitting too close to the TV was bad for my eyes and I said, "no mom I have special eyes"

And then for whatever reason that was a core memory.

I might be misrembering the next part but I think shortly after that my eyes did start hurting and maybe the important realization was like, "whoa. dang. I DON'T have special eyes."

all I can do

is try to be true to myself. 

and that is to play. like I really believe in the power of play. A lot of what we do we don't call play but it is. It's playing. It's spontaneously adopting a set of rules and ideas and exploring them to be expressive and create connection. What is more important than that? What doesn't fall within that category in some way or another?

flagstone update

I'm gonna start soaking the ground whenever I water the plants and see if stuff will grow inbetween the rocks.

Also, yard veggies are doing very well. They've all grown a lot. You can tell which ones are getting the most and least sun but they all look healthy.

Had a really good workout yesterday

I ran with Tripp at Charlottesville High School.

3 sets of 4 x400. 60 seconds standing rest between reps.

76, 74, 74, 74. easy.

3 min walk.

72, 70, 72, 71. a little harder but not too bad.

5 min walk. switch to spikes.

68, 67, 68, 65.04.

spicy! wow! very running!

flagstone

We've got a big dirt patch in our front hard. I think because of run off from the stoop or the top of the house. I'm not sure. But no one lives in the house next door and they have a big pile of flagstone they tore up at some point and it's just sitting there in the front yard not being used. So I took some rocks and brought it over to our dirt spot and tried to fill it in some. 

It looks okay. It doesn't look any worse than a big ugly bald spot of dirt. My hope is that over time the stone will sink in a bit. And then I'd like to add maybe some more decorative rocks or fill it in. And maybe having the rocks there will allow more plants or moss to take hold. 

We'll see. This has been stealing from your neighbors home improvement with Andy

running felt good

Somehow I've come to associate running with not feeling good. Today my legs felt really good. And it wasn't like I was really rested. I've been on my feet a lot. I did a hard workout yesterday. I felt tired before the run. 

So that tells me that putting in a lot of fast work helps my legs feel good and not doing that stuff makes me stale. Also staying hydrated and eating protein. And running at the end of the day instead of the morning. I think my body is in a much better place at that time. So those are some principles I'm always in the process of remembering and forgetting. But today felt good. And running was really enjoyable. And I'm thankful for that.

I learned something today!

 I learned, that the weird looking bulb thing I found outside my doorstep way back in the fall and have been caring for a in pot until recently is...an onion.

Which, admittedly, was pretty obvious. But I don't know nothing. So I looked it up and found that onions like 6 hours of direct sunlight. So I moved the onion from the shady backyard to the sunny front yard and hopefully it will fair a bit better. I'm not expecting anything. It's a miracle to me that it's not completely dead by this point. 

I don't really want anything out of any of my plants. I just like watching them grow. That part is pretty neat. And if I do a good job and get something out of them, that's cool too.

Also my mom helped me plant 4 tomatoes and a cucumber and a squash plant yesterday! Very exciting. 

It's my mom's birthday!

 happy birthday mom! I will see you tomorrow but I want to write today that you are really great and every year I am more thankful that you are my mom. I really look up to you as someone who is strong and caring and always learning and growing. For many reasons, both obvious and not as obvious, I wouldn't be who I am without you. 

happy birthday!

feeling tired this week

I think it was the long run on Monday. Nothing good ever comes from the Monday long run. 

And I just had two drinks at a friend's get together that night. I really can't drink anymore. It put me in a sour mood for about two days. 

Anyway, I'm still excited to run workouts. But easy running is starting to feel like a chore. I think I need to be patient and listen to my body. Sometimes if I don't feel good for a few days I jump to big decisions like

oh maybe I don't want to take running so seriously anymore 

or

maybe I should just take two weeks off

But I think if I take my time and do what feels right I'll be okay.

my plant is going to flower soon

I'm excited. 

life really do be crazy sometimes. 

I ran 14 miles this morning

We got down to low 6 minute miles. I think I'm going to be exhausted later. Have to remember to hydrate. 

go out there to be aware

I was talking to Todd about the mission statement and language/pitch around the leadership/outdoors adventure camps we're running and I thought of a story from last year that sums up the goals pretty well.

Near a reservoir is a drainage tunnel that runs under the interstate. It's about 200m long and it's completely dark. It's an eerie experience to go through. You don't really have any bearings or points of reference. I've probably already written about it. But anyway we take the kids through there because it's a unique thing. Usually what happens is people get a little scared or nervous and so they talk or make noise or try to be funny, or, worst of all, scream or try to grab someone to mask their own fear. And so, instead of having these cool, unique experience, all you are able to focus on is how annoying this person is being. It's like all the attention is on them and their actions. Which is rude and crappy. 

So that relates to the goals of this camp in two ways. One, we want to get people out in nature, on trails, on rivers, in these environments they may not have been in. If you've never really spent time in the woods it can feel like this dark scary tunnel with no points of reference. There's a lot of unknowns. And so we want to get kids to see that and try out some unexplored areas and see what's possible in that new space. 

And then secondly, we want to learn to do that in a way that doesn't ruin the experience for ourselves and others by drawing attention to ourselves. Learning how to go through the tunnel quietly. Learning how to hike or kayak or camp in a way that doesn't ruin the area for future visitors. And maybe that seems really basic but you'd be surprised at some gaps in knowledge that people have. 

And then we do other stuff too but I think that's how I would best sum it up. 

sky of green