hurray!
So it occurs to me that my recent posts lack optimism. I sound like one whiny, pessimistic, negative, self-pitying, cynical old grump.
So the cheery title to today's post--"HURRAY!"--is part of my effort to shake myself out of this pathetic valley of despair and celebrate the good things going on all around me.
Hurray for:
--my old neighbors, Jeff and Natalie. Jeff got a new job closer to both sets of their parents, so they pulled out on Saturday for Twin Falls, Idaho. They had me, and some other friends, over last week for dutch-oven chicken, and they loaded me up with all of the stuff in their freezer that they didn't want to haul across Wyoming. So now I'm blessed with pheasant drumsticks, a couple of chucker birds, some pork choppies, and several bags of currants. They're good people, and I'm sad to see them go, but I'm happy that they're headed on to better things.
--Wyoming weather. Yeah, I realize I spend a lot of time waxing poetic about the weather around this place, but seriously. It's amazing. Saturday evening I headed up to Tie City and walked up along the Ridge Trail, around the Phil's Folly loop, and came back down the Meadow Trail. And it was amazing. So peaceful, so still, so calming. And little purple flowers blooming all around, opening up through the grey-green fuzz of their protective pods, turning towards the cool orange sunset.
--Exercise. I've exercised for 10 of the past 11 days. This may be a record for me, and I think it's finally starting to pay off. I've been so bogged down lately, so exhausted, but I feel like the exercise is starting to return some of my energy expenditure. Sunday I played faculty pick-up soccer, which was a lot of fun and got me moving in ways that my body typically doesn't move. I'm still feeling the pain, and it feels great.
--Bongyum. This is the Korean student who bought my old trusty steed, the 1994 Ford Tempo, also known as the Black Stallion. Tags on the Tempo were set to expire in June, and since I haven't driven the car since last fall, I decided it was time to part with it. This is a melancholy parting--the Tempo was my first car, the car I had in high school, the car that's been with me through thick and thin. But it deserves a better life, not a life of sitting on the street collecting the pattern of rain drops in the dust on its hood. I hope the old car treats Bongyum as well as it's treated me. Ah, I may need a tissue.
--The proposal for a city composting plan. Taking a look at Laramie Boomerang online, I see that the feature story today is about Robert Waggener's effort to get the city to develop a composting facility to help cut down on landfill space and to make productive use of the many tons of vegetative matter that otherwise would just get added to the heap of crap that we manage to produce everyday in the process of being Americans. According to his research into other composting programs, this type of activity can "take 17 to 25 percent of the waste out of landfill." Hurray, Robert Waggener!
Wow. I feel better already.
So the cheery title to today's post--"HURRAY!"--is part of my effort to shake myself out of this pathetic valley of despair and celebrate the good things going on all around me.
Hurray for:
--my old neighbors, Jeff and Natalie. Jeff got a new job closer to both sets of their parents, so they pulled out on Saturday for Twin Falls, Idaho. They had me, and some other friends, over last week for dutch-oven chicken, and they loaded me up with all of the stuff in their freezer that they didn't want to haul across Wyoming. So now I'm blessed with pheasant drumsticks, a couple of chucker birds, some pork choppies, and several bags of currants. They're good people, and I'm sad to see them go, but I'm happy that they're headed on to better things.
--Wyoming weather. Yeah, I realize I spend a lot of time waxing poetic about the weather around this place, but seriously. It's amazing. Saturday evening I headed up to Tie City and walked up along the Ridge Trail, around the Phil's Folly loop, and came back down the Meadow Trail. And it was amazing. So peaceful, so still, so calming. And little purple flowers blooming all around, opening up through the grey-green fuzz of their protective pods, turning towards the cool orange sunset.
--Exercise. I've exercised for 10 of the past 11 days. This may be a record for me, and I think it's finally starting to pay off. I've been so bogged down lately, so exhausted, but I feel like the exercise is starting to return some of my energy expenditure. Sunday I played faculty pick-up soccer, which was a lot of fun and got me moving in ways that my body typically doesn't move. I'm still feeling the pain, and it feels great.
--Bongyum. This is the Korean student who bought my old trusty steed, the 1994 Ford Tempo, also known as the Black Stallion. Tags on the Tempo were set to expire in June, and since I haven't driven the car since last fall, I decided it was time to part with it. This is a melancholy parting--the Tempo was my first car, the car I had in high school, the car that's been with me through thick and thin. But it deserves a better life, not a life of sitting on the street collecting the pattern of rain drops in the dust on its hood. I hope the old car treats Bongyum as well as it's treated me. Ah, I may need a tissue.
--The proposal for a city composting plan. Taking a look at Laramie Boomerang online, I see that the feature story today is about Robert Waggener's effort to get the city to develop a composting facility to help cut down on landfill space and to make productive use of the many tons of vegetative matter that otherwise would just get added to the heap of crap that we manage to produce everyday in the process of being Americans. According to his research into other composting programs, this type of activity can "take 17 to 25 percent of the waste out of landfill." Hurray, Robert Waggener!
Wow. I feel better already.
Comments
The Black Stallion
City Composting
New blog posts (hint, hint ;-) )