Saturday the 19th our family went out to do some volunteer flood clean-up out at Whitewater. If you have been reading my blog for any amount of time whatsoever you know I have a small love affair with Whitewater State Park. We all have such wonderful family memories of our time there and we all decided it would be nice to help clean up what the devasting flood waters ripped apart last August. All bridges were washed away save one, hundreds of trees were uprooted and killed and continue to die as erosion takes its toll, animals were killed and campsites destroyed. Jon was on call so he couldn't join us but I took the girls and Pete. We were a little late getting there but it wasn't long before we had shovels in hand and a job to do.
Right when I found the place on the trail I wanted to start, this blond chick starts asking me all kinds of questions. The first few were fine but I was quickly beginning to get annoyed. I was very close to handing her a shovel and saying "dig in sweetheart". I thought better of it when I saw that she was taking notes. I decided she was probably a college student doing a report so I just let her talk for awhile. It wasn't long before she let me know that she was actually with the Winona Daily News. She was doing an article and wanted permission to quote me. Whatever. I was out digging around in rocks and mud in the cold of early morning so I wasn't very eloquent but hey, I'm famous! ;) The girls got a kick out of it anyway! We had already hiked on the trail the previous weekend so we knew how horrible the damage was. I have pictures on my flicker but it sure is true that there is nothing like being there and seeing it up close.Not much else is going on here. We had a nice birthday for Rachel and Pete (his is the 10th and hers is the 23rd), Rhi had her last Honors Choir concert of the season this past Sunday and is digging in to soccer season, I am still losing weight (sitting at 130 right now), Jon is moonlighting like crazy to pay taxes, our very old dog is still alive, barely and our friends the Maldonados are in Vietnam. Don't even ask...I am sick and so is Rhi. I think I will stay home tomorrow and rest. Tracy and I have our Teacher Leave Day on Friday and we plan on having a fun filled day at the Mall of America. We were snowed out last time. If that happens again I give up! Must go to bed, must sleep. I feel horrible.Hillary won Pennsylvania! Finally, some kind of *good* news...
"If I had my life to live over, I would start barefoot earlier in the spring and stay that way later in the fall." ~Nadine Stair
This quote really struck a chord in me this evening. When I was a child growing up in such a small town as Coeur d' Alene Idaho was, going barefoot was totally "the thing" for summer. After reading this, I was struck with memories of the pain our tender feet would endure for weeks to build up the calluses necessary to run around barefoot all summer. I clearly remember how cold the ground was when we first started. Some dared as early as May. The gravel on our street were very painful-we had no pavement yet and in the summer the oil that was added to keep the dust down added a new sensation and made for some very dirty feet! I can remember the very pleasant feel of the new Spring grass and the cool puddles that followed the rain. One of my favorite sensations was the feel of the trails in the woods. Cool, soft and slightly moist earth that felt like heaven! It cooled our hot feet in the dead of summer. Once I stepped on a pinecone running from my friend Janie's house to my own. That was incredibly painful... My mom was pulling slivers out of my foot for an hour or so!
I am reminded today of a very large sensory organ that is often taken for granted-skin. Our feet provide such a perfect means by which to explore the world. I knew this as a child and have forgotten it. Somewhere in the means by which we are socialized it was lost. I was taught to "protect" my feet and the feet of my children with shoes. Or, be careful, you might pick up some disease if you go barefoot. Or, be careful, you might look poor/trashy. Somehow I forgot that be it pleasure or pain, feet help us to remember that we are alive. Going barefoot was a celebration of Spring and Summer and a right of passage of sorts. It opened us up to the outdoors and allowed us to commune with the earth once again. For me, it reminds me of the things in this world that shall always remain solidly beneath me and with me no matter whatever else might change. Excuse me while I take off my shoes...OK, so I know Spring Break was actually like two weeks ago but I have been seriously unmotivated to blog lately. It was a very nice break but like Easter itself, seemed a little early this year. The kids at my school have Spring Fever in full force this week and I need another break already! Bloody noses, scraped up knees, sweaty smelly children locked into a humid room (air is not on yet), fighting, whining and general unrest. I sure hope this all passes soon.
I spent Spring Break cleaning of course, visiting both the Science Museum (with Tracy and her son Benny) and the Mall of America as well as hiking at Whitewater. I dropped another two pounds over the course of the past two weeks. I seem to be averaging a pound a week. I nearly screamed in excitement two days ago as my nightly weight showed 129. I haven't seen the 120's in about seven years! It feels so wonderful to be shedding this crap off my body! Today was a little disappointing with only a .something loss but I guess it's better than nothing or gaining. Tracy has her son this week and his afterschool class is over now so we can't walk after school. I have tried to walk on my own anyway but I still missed two days this week. That cost me. I'll be hitting the walking tomorrow for sure. We plan to walk right away in the morning and I am hoping to be able to go after school too as Benny will be going to his dad's. Rhi had her bottom braces put on today. She is feeling horrible so I am scooting her off to bed early. My friend Heather has been dead for nearly three months now and I still haven't found the right time to make out the sympathy card for her family. I just have such a hard time wrapping my thoughts around all the loss this year. I think I am officially tired of this place. This town is beginning to hold less and less appeal for me. It is full of memories of people who are either dead or gone. The winters are horrible and I dread having to face another one. Maybe Phoenix wasn't *that* bad... Flagstaff is nice? At least family lives there. I feel really alone here. If it wasn't for my own family and my friend Tracy It think I'd go crazy. Even my job holds little appeal. The massive overtesting of our children continues at the expensive of the arts, physical education (like our country needs less exercise) and other important subject areas. It's really depressing.