The Myth & The Majesty

... I'm thinking about this hike. They look just thrilled to be there, don't they?   (Tee hee!)  

One more trip to Sioux Falls without having to arrange sleeping accommodations. One more time through the old house to make sure everything's clean. One more "necessary" 350-mile jaunt before it becomes entirely optional. ... But first, breakfast!

Yesterday ... I just plain forgot to post. Yup. I'm not even sure how, although I suppose that had something to do with leaving the house at random times over the course of the day. So I think I'll use my gimme for the week and do some highs and lows (a post I apparently skipped last week) ... but in the opposite order. This week: Lows: Really, there was only one genuine low. And that was having to see a camper leave in an ambulance. In this case, the camper being a retired UM minister that lives in town and comes out here on a regular basis. He's okay -- but there was a really scary half hour in there that put a damper on the whole week. Highs: A break at last! Well, a half-break, since there are still people around, but still a break. We have had some remarkably cooperative weather. I get to go for a drive tomorrow! And hopefully catch up with Daz! Woot. That's ... that's enough for now. Might be time for a nap (which could also qualify as a

It's an evening to keep things simple. After a day like today -- frustrating and downright scary at times -- it's an evening for popcorn and a movie and a couch. It's an evening to zone out and listen to the rain. A chance to idly catch up with some old friends. As it turns out ... an absolutely necessary evening. Have a good night, all.

There are two simple truths that were reaffirmed this evening. Work goes faster if you don't get distracted. BUT. Few things feel better than getting caught up (at least a little) with an old friend. On that note, I think maybe I need to go home and unwind. Last push begins before the long weekend...

Summer reading lists are of no use to me. "Clearly, Ashley," you say. "We've heard plenty about your summers." Winters, on the other hand, offer a lot more freedom of movement. In-between time. Opportunities to relax in coffee shops. Evenings when the weather doesn't cooperate and staying home is both safer and generally more attractive. Which is maybe why I've started my seasonal book hoarding once again. Up right this minute: The Contract Surgeon by Dan O'Brien (not that Dan O'Brien ). The book tells the story of Dr. Valentine T. McGillycuddy, a rather prominent figure in this area (and the man whose ashes are interred at the top of Harney Peak). It's a fictionalization of his actual life and it's ... downright fascinating. My Inventions by Nikola Tesla. This is the autobiography of one of the greatest inventors of the last two centuries, and ... oh, heck, if you don't know anything about Tesla, start here . To go wit

It's been a day. The last actual camp of the summer started (we have a couple of adult camps that happen after the kids all leave, and this is one of them), my dad got two trailer loads moved to their new temporary home, and I got three steps closer to being ready for a road trip. I also spent the morning thinking it was Thursday evening. I know. It makes no sense. Aside from all that ... well. My parents have a view of the Hills that I'm a little jealous of. They get the silhouette and the sunset. I live in paradise, but some days I miss the sunset.

If you're looking to visit the Black Hills, there's something you should know: The weather here is always a topic of conversation. I know, I know. Weather is the epitome of small talk. Filler. Nothing important. The catch is that around here ... it is important. Okay. The basics: it is not abnormal for it to hit 110 degrees in July and -20 in January. Generally, it's more pleasant than that, but neither of those are particularly strange. It is not abnormal for there to be snow on the ground after Mother's Day. It is not abnormal to not need a coat at Thanksgiving. It is not abnormal for one hill to get rain while the one next to it is in full sunlight. Other things that aren't strange: having your heat on in the morning and your A/C by afternoon, large hail seeming to come out of nowhere, and 70 degrees in March. You see, the Hills are a relatively small island of miniature mountains in the middle of a large spread of grasslands. To the west, the

I've been issued the ice bucket challenge three times now. Which I think means I should probably get around to responding. Thoughts?

* Begin advertisement! * All right, Rapid Citians [See-shuns]  -- next week is the last week of Summer Nights  for 2014. If you haven't made it out yet, it's the last chance to catch two free concerts with a full cross-section of the Rapid City population. (And some pretty good food and drinks.) Come out and enjoy the awesomeness that happens when the whole town gathers! Tonight's shows were fantastic despite the weather. Which is another one to mention -- if you were out tonight and you want to catch 32 Below again in full with no rain interruptions, they'll be in Sturgis on November 8th at the Loud American Roadhouse. I should put that one on my own calendar... Anyway! Have a good night, all. And don't miss next week's shows! * End advertisement *

So in an interesting twist, I managed a post a day for 100 days straight ... and then I got a migraine. Any other sufferers out there? When I get a migraine, it means two things. The first is that I am rendered utterly useless. The second is that all my brain can manage is a need to sleep. Which means that for the whole of yesterday, I stayed as horizontal as possible and barely moved. Not exactly how I meant to spend the day. Not fun, either. It also meant that my computer pretty much stayed closed and silent. Today, I'm back to almost normal (there's still some recovery necessary) and getting ready for another week-ish of activity. One more camp to go -- a few random groups left -- a final official move by the parents -- and then it will be Labor Day weekend. Deep breath. Time to keep moving.

Tonight, I'm fighting bad internet availability. (In related news, it's uniquely fun to put tech support on hold.) Because of that and general laziness, I will instead give you a Vlogbrothers video filled with nerd jokes. Enjoy.  

We kick off the week with wacky weather and a minor horde of golfers. This is one of my favorite weeks as far as camps go. It's a group of guys that turn up each year to golf for three days and eat very well. Which means ... I get to eat very well. (And take it relatively easy in the middle of the day.) There are other high points, too. Men's groups tend to be the friendliest, most grateful, and most relaxed groups we have. It's just the way it goes. In the meantime, we also got a classic Black Hills storm today -- a downpour, a torrent of hail, and a weird swath cut through the Hills that stretched at least 25 miles wide but possibly not more than 5 miles north-south. Because ... that happens. If you think that maybe I'm hitting a writer's block point, you would be right. So there's the weather. And now off I go again.

Today, I'm thinking about other days with perfect weather here. Because that's easier than the post I wanted to have done today and will hopefully have ... well, something tomorrow. (Or I'll give up entirely. Or maybe a little of both.)

Life is good. I've been asked a lot in the last two weeks exactly what happens when the summer ends around here. A lot of folks only appear while school's out and ... well, the curiosity is natural. What happens is ... the summer staff goes home and the kids' camps are confined to the weekends. In the meantime, we start getting adult groups -- the scrapbookers, quilters, worship teams needing planning sessions, AA groups and so on. We start getting day groups and lunch meetings. And there are four of us to take care of it all. Don't get me wrong -- it's less hectic. It has to be or our buildings would fall into disrepair and our minds would leave us (permanently). But it's never completely quiet. There are, however, other opportunities. Chances to leave camp and have dinner in town, chances to do laundry in the middle of the day, chances to catch up on doctors' appointments and life in general. Chances to go on long vacations to make up for that

On the last night of camp at the last campfire, it is semi-traditional for the smaller camps to do a round of highs and lows (and sometimes mid-week, but we'll stick with the end of the week). Given that I'm attempting much more regular posting around here, I thought maybe I should give myself at least one weekly gimme. This week's been a little extra scattered and a regular Thursday night post has me rather relieved.   This last week (since my weeks tend to go from Friday to Friday) saw a trip to Sioux Falls, a lower-than-average number of guests, and the death of Robin Williams. It's been an interesting one. So! This week's highs and lows, although in the reverse order. Lows: ... The death of Robin Williams. Summer staff cleared out completely on Monday. I really need to recharge Sophie's A/C. Highs: Quality time with Mom & Mia Sorella in Sioux Falls. Summer staff leaving means that we're transitioning into what I generally call &quo

Made a quick dash to Sioux Falls for a couple of nights.   I've learned that I said goodbye to that house awhile ago ... but I'll miss having an "other" place to visit.   I learned that my cell phone doesn't hold a charge when it overheats.   I've learned that I don't hold a charge when I overheat.   [I reaffirmed that I need to recharge Sophie's air conditioner.]   And I learned that The Fellowship of the Ring is an excellent audiobook to keep a person company on a long drive.   Now, I go to bed with thoughts of large lakes and drives to come.  

... how little time I've spent in the boat this year.   I need to fix that.  

I feel like I should have something deeply profound to say. About the death of Robin Williams. About visiting my childhood home before it gets passed into new hands. About the long drive across South Dakota, a very familiar route that will soon become less familiar and necessary. But the truth is that right now, all I'm feeling is ... weary. Maybe those deep thoughts will come. Maybe tomorrow.

All that remained! At least before it got dark. A lot of parents around here.  Add caption Good summer.

During the Great Western Trek last year, I ended up (accidentally) concentrating on westward history -- gold rushes, the Oregon Trail, that kind of thing. As I look toward this year's trip, what do I find? Tesla memorials. Love Canal, the first Superfund site. The spot where the reactors from the Manhattan Project are buried. In other words, scientific history, a lot of it falling into the "Things That Were Dangerous" realm. And you know what? I'm going to visit as many of them as I can. Because that's who I am.

Last night when I got home, I wasted so much time fighting a bad internet connection that I gave up and wished for serenity. (Admittedly not a bad wish!) So this week, I'm a bit behind. On the last night of camp at the last campfire, it is semi-traditional for the smaller camps to do a round of highs and lows (and sometimes mid-week, but we'll stick with the end of the week). Given that I'm attempting much more regular posting around here, I thought maybe I should give myself at least one weekly gimme.   This last week (since my weeks tend to go from Friday to Friday) was the first non-camp week since June. The Sturgis Motorcycle Rally also got off to a rollicking start and it decided to start raining again. So! This week's highs and lows, although in the reverse order. Lows: Rain is generally good, but this week has had a couple massive downpours that made messes ... and also made people nervous. It all worked out, but there were some moments that were less

Maybe I'm not the only one out there tonight in need of a little serenity.  

Quick, without overthinking it, tell me something -- are you an early bird or a night owl? [And WHY must both terms reference scary little neo-dinosaurs?!] I suppose the answer to this could tell you a lot about a person. Early birds take the day head-on and annoy the living daylights out of their coworkers with an abnormally chipper attitude each morning. Night owls work best as the day wanes and slowly torture roommates when they don't go to bed at a normal time. No doubt, each has their pros and cons. Is anyone else out there kind of both? I discovered in college that my best work hours, particularly for sit-down work, were between 5AM and 9AM and then again from about 8PM till, oh, 1AM or so. I would say it was just college being college-y, but it carried through till ... well, now. To this day, I accomplish more when the sun is within a couple of hours of the horizon. Get me to the middle of the day and I'm utterly useless if it requires any thought. This isn&

Yes, folks, the summer really is ending. All the signs are there. Thing #1: I sleep a lot. Turn off the alarm clock and let my body think that maybe we'll get all caught up. (We don't, but it's a nice thought.) Thing #2: A pile of unread books forms in my living room, where it bounces between "Physical visual of a winter reading list" and "Taunting me." Thing #3: My messy house gets on my nerves and I periodically decide to actually do something about it. As long as Thing #4 holds off for about ... oh, three months (weather colder and wetter than anyone wants to cope with) it could be a good fall.

Tonight, I'm thinking about this.   And this. It's starting to come together. Which is very good news.

Summer is ending and wow, has that been obvious today. My energy is gone. My enthusiasm is ... flagging. Summer staffers are moving out one by one. And, you know, the camps themselves have ended. It's a little astonishing how quickly the transition went this summer. On Friday, our last 100 kids and counselors hit the road; by Friday night, we had a rather quiet and small family reunion on site. Yesterday, it took less than a morning to finish cleaning up the camp and -- here's the fun part -- today it didn't have to all be flipped for the next group. Summer is fun and chaotic and exhausting, but really, I absolutely love not-summer. I like the groups and the projects and I like that the pace doesn't leave me in desperate need of sleep each week. Although I'm hoping this year there's a little more "escape to town" and a little less "snow."

It is once again rally week here in the Hills. In response to the Sturgis Motorcycle Rally two years ago, I posted this letter. As it is once again that time of year and I still like what I wrote then, I thought I'd give it another chance to be read.   *   An Open Letter to Sturgis Rallygoers   Welcome! We're glad you're here. No, really -- we are. This is one of those events that South Dakotans have a (possibly grudging) appreciation for and we're happy you're here to enjoy it. That being said, there are some things I'd love for you to keep in mind. 1. If you're not currently in Sturgis, please cover up. There are all sorts of other things going on besides the rally. You're surrounded by innocent vacationing families from Vermont. Families that may have a slide show to show friends back home  are instantly posting all of their photos to Facebook for their grandmothers to see. We'd like them to come visit, too. Please don't s

Today, I absolutely needed to see this.