The Myth & The Majesty

I have a couple other things half-written that I'm hoping will turn into worthwhile pieces. In the meantime, I'm easily distracted. Here's what's going on. 1. Summer's almost over. The kids have all left (and in this case, by "kids" I actually mean "summer staff" ... and I have to acknowledge that it's weird that I call them kids) and next week we'll be fully into the just-the-four-of-us mode. Woot. 2. I've already seen one tree that's starting to turn colors. Awkward, since we have 90s predicted for the weekend. 3. I'm really, really excited about my upcoming road trip. I'm also quickly getting to the over-planning part. 4. ... I can't wait for football season to really start. Even caught myself watching a preseason game with two teams I care nothing about ... just because it was on. Seriously, what's happened to me?!

"How do you recharge?" I was confused by his question. "What?" "Are you energized by people or do you have to find alone time to recharge?" It was the first time someone had put it that way. "Oh. Definitely alone time." "Then you're more introverted than you think." I was painfully shy as a kid -- and I mean it was painful for both me and the people around me. I didn't talk to my teachers till halfway through second grade. Friendly strangers made me cry. In public, it was my more outgoing little sister that grabbed attention. As is often the case, I did get more comfortable over time, but then something would change and I would dive right back into my shell. College was a different story. I, awkward and nerdy, resolved to make friends immediately in this strange new place ... and I found it to be suprisingly easy among these people who happened to be so much more like me than my high school classmates had been. Sudd

We've reached the end of the summer. It's a bit surreal, actually. I'm still getting used to the fact that I'm not leaving, that I don't have to pack up my belongings and head back to ... somewhere. In fact, I need to do the exact opposite: I still have plenty of boxes in my garage to sort through. Our last two camps are going through their last night. The last games, the last campfires, the last deep discussions among kids that didn't really know each other a week ago. It's a night of sugar rushes and late-night giggling before everyone heads their own directions in the morning. Then the summer staff will be heading on down the road as well, back toward school and all the preparation for fall. And us? We'll be swinging around into "offseason" mode with just the four of us. We've still got a full camp next week -- just not summer camp, exactly. It'll be September before we get a real break, after school kicks in and before the r