The Myth & The Majesty

Jack & Jill

I originally posted this in two pieces -- one a year ago, one two years ago -- and in going through my old stuff, I realized how extremely relevant it all still is. So! Here we go, in one big (slightly revised to make more sense as one piece) post... * As we head full-force into the camping season, I'd like us to sit down and have a chat about some guidelines for visiting such a place as an adult. Not accurate. Not a chat. A soliloquy. Please, settle in with your coffee and listen.  If it helps, I'll join you. Now, as a general rule I am almost annoyingly upbeat here. [You: What's this "almost" crap?] Today, that's not entirely the case. I've talked before about my fascination with the people that come through; the flip side to seeing all of these people at their most unguarded moments is that we also sometimes catch them at their meanest, neediest, and most pretentious. Generally speaking, this is accidental bad behavior, but it

There are certain upsides to adulthood. Like getting the good chocolate in bunny form at Easter. And being able to eat the ears first without judgment. In other news: I was thinking we were almost done with this when we ended up in Atlas Obscura as a "fleeting wonder." Which is ... actually kind of awesome. And definitely hilarious. [Note: I cannot recommend Atlas Obscura enough for people on road trips. Seriously. So much fun stuff out there.]

Dear March: You confuse me. I mean, I live far enough north that I expect cold weather until ... well, June. But throwing the 75 degree stuff in there? That's just mean. That got our hopes up. It made us think spring-y thoughts. It was even nice on Monday. Almost excessively so. But then the snow reappeared just when people had to be on the road. Not cool, March. Not cool. I'm pretty fortunate. My plans changed but I wasn't trying to drive across the state. (Heck, my only wish now is that I had maraschino cherries on hand.) I'm a little concerned about others that couldn't get away before today, though. Stay safe, folks. And March -- cut this out. Sincerely, Ashley

At 2:45 this afternoon, I was on the phone with Dan Hammer at KFGO Radio in Fargo, ND. The path there was innocent enough. The M-Man took the initiative to get this sign made. On Tuesday, the Bossman posted a picture of the sign to our Facebook page. A normal post of ours gets 800-ish hits; an amusing post might hit 2,000-ish (like our shiny floor a couple years back). After 24 hours? Over 30,000 hits. Slow news day? I was flabbergasted. The appeal makes sense -- an error like this can be hilarious (especially if you're not the one turning people around in a parking lot) -- but it's been going on so long that the explosion of attention seemed out of scale with the event. You see, after this post came a phone call from the local newspaper. Since by this point the Bossman was out and about, I answered his questions. This morning? Front page, above the fold. And then we were over 60,000 hits on Facebook. Another phone call and the Bossman is on the no

1. Yup. It snowed. 4 or 5 inches here. The robins are pretty angry. 2. Our sign is up and has gotten a lot of attention. A post on Facebook has gotten more views than the last year's worth of posts combined. Aaaaaaand then we got a call from a local paper. 3. I am ready for a weekend. Who's with me?

It was just yesterday that we hit 75 degrees right here at the camp. Now ... we're in a winter storm warning. Nothing much going on at the moment, but it's already making me nostalgic for the days of yester ... um, day. I shouldn't complain. It's March. It's barely spring. In the Hills. These things happen pretty much every year. There's a reason people don't do much garden-planting till May. I only really wish it would wait till our guests were home again. Eesh. This one's pretty widespread, folks, so stay safe out there and think warm thoughts.

Do you think it might work?

I left poor Sophie at my parents' house last night. Something is going on with her brakes, and after changing a tire (which is a mystery all its own) I begged Mom to let me borrow a vehicle for a couple of days instead of driving around with strange scraping noises and a spare tire. What I didn't do before leaving her in their garage and running away with my mother's vehicle was empty any stuff out of the car. Yep. I look incredibly dorky. It was late. I was tired. And I figured it'd be fine for a couple days. Well, perhaps I should have given myself a few minutes. Today's main event was the Run for the Rangers, an annual 5K walk/run hosted by Granite Sports to benefit the local high school's track team. The weather forecast was sunny with a high of 53 degrees ... but it wasn't yet over 40 when we left the camp. Here is a list of things currently in my car: - My good trail running shoes - Lots of gloves - A stash of Clif Bars (okay, those

Once again, I'm taking travel recommendations. I've agreed to drive a chaser car for Mr. Rogers in May and I'll have some (lots) of time to see things while he bikes (because in this case, I'm the sane one involved) ... Far western Virginia, across the center of Kentucky, and into Missouri. It will be right after the Derby and I have some related stops to make. I've gotten some brochures and stuff because that's who I am and how I operate, and it's getting interesting. All the same, I can always use some suggestions. What should I see? What is worth the time and potential detour?

So ... I had a bit of a victory yesterday and I really need to share it. It's kind of dumb. I'm sorry. I have two basic issues at war that were somewhat rectified. The first is that I am ... a bit of a slob. (Shh. I heard you.) The second is that as of late, I've been buying earrings in large quantities. The earrings make a bit more sense when you realize that (a) there are a lot of clearances going on and (b) I've got double piercings in my ears and will regularly wear four mismatched earrings if given the opportunity. Also, (c) I have the kind of job where fun jewelry is appreciated by small children and having semi-disposable ones comes in handy. (Seriously, sometimes it seems like I shed them. My good stuff gets double-backed whenever possible.) Anyway! These recent acquisitions called for a new storage solution and stud earrings are ... difficult. I looked around for various holders before realizing I had something at home gathering dust.

St. Patrick's Day is one of those ... holidays? that I never quite know what to do with. I mean, going out isn't an option because I don't want to spend my evening with a raucous college crowd (ew) and green beer is awful. I don't enjoy corned beef and cabbage. And I forgot to pick up Guinness this year. I'm a little sad about that last one. Instead, I think I'll celebrate this year with avocado pasta (it's green!), unrelated wine and perhaps a Harry Potter movie, as those are ripe with Irish actors. (And okay, maybe some Boondock Saints as a cross-state toast with some old friends.) Yeah. That sounds good.

I have a tendency to adore bad disaster movies. Seriously, they're a huge guilty pleasure of mine. Which is why I had to DVR "San Andreas" when it turned up on HBO. ... I love it. I'm not even sure why. Although it probably has something to do with The Rock. Only feel a little guilty about that.

I am not great with phones. Around here, phone use is a regular topic as a lot of our campers and younger staff members simply don't know (and often can't figure out) how our phone system works. It's not complicated -- but so many of these kids haven't had a lot of experience with a landline and a lot of them express a strange sort of phone phobia. They communicate via text. They don't call. My own issues stem from other things. I grew up with a landline, after all. I can talk to my friends (my age comes through when I admit that I do in fact talk on the phone with friends) and family without issue, but I don't like cold-calling people. When it comes down to it, phones are where my introversion -- and awkward engineer-y-ness -- come out to wreak havoc. So it seems only natural that today has been a day of ... we'll say interesting phone conversations. It took a lot more extrovert juice than usual to power through some of them. "Extrovert juice&

This.     Also, it's an Ultimate Pi Day (if you round properly to the nearest ten-thousandth). I feel like this should be a much bigger deal among my nerdiest FB friends... and now I want pie...

My March hike is in the books! This weekend has been one of absurdly good weather and surprisingly helpful circumstances. Over 70 degrees out -- and our guests are a small group that are mostly hanging out in the Hills away from camp. Yesterday, taking advantage of that, I made my usual trek to Sylvan Lake. First things first -- a stop by the Coffee Cabin outside Hill City on the way. (I love those guys. They give me energy.) There was a line this time ... and their sign with the day's special amused me. Onward! The trail was dry for most of the way -- a huge improvement over last month's snowpack -- although there were also a lot more downed trees, some of which blocked the trail. I suspect this one of falling the day I hiked last month. If so, it killed my snowman. Maybe that's why I have "Psycho Killer" by the Talking Heads stuck in my head.  Traffic was up, too. I chatted with a few other hikers, including our weekend guests and one

1. It is going to be way too nice today and I don't intend to stay inside. 2. I'm going through an Eggs Benedict phase and, while that's been a delicious phase, I'm waiting for it to pass so I can give my cholesterol a break. 3. This. 4. It's calving season out at my grandparents' place, and in my paging through this lovely blog I rediscovered this from a few years back. I think the sentiment still applies.  5. Finally -- and I could really use some feedback here -- I am hoping to get myself a new laptop for my birthday. My 7-year-old Toshiba, while still (surprisingly) functional, is ... we'll say wearing out. It's time. I could use some suggestions and recommendations for anything that has performed well in this decade. Requirements: Sorry, Mac friends, but I'm looking for a PC. Something fully-functional (not a tablet -- I need a keyboard, dangnabbit) and relatively inexpensive. And if at all possible, not too fragile. I put my lap

... because I've had too much fun looking at this ...

It is March. In South Dakota. And I have been comfortable all day. And if you think I'm bragging ... you're absolutely right.  

Any arbitrary turning along the way and I would be elsewhere; I would be different. - Frances Mayes I keep finding myself going down a dangerous rabbit hole. It's the "What If" path. I'm betting it's one that everyone here is familiar with on some level or another. What if I'd done X just a little bit differently? What if I'd picked Y instead? The original let's-try-this-route-instead. Illustration by John Tenniel. There are the little ones. Go into the coffee shop to get some work done, eye the pastries and talk yourself out of that one raspberry cream cheese danish. Change your mind five minutes later ... but someone has already bought it. There's a quick twinge of regret and you get a blueberry muffin instead. Everything is fine. No lasting damage. And there are the huge ones. What if you'd taken this job in this other state instead? What if you'd married The First One? Your entire life would be different. You'd live e

Last year, there was no balance. It was kind of ridiculous. Things bounced from one extreme to another -- a heart attack to a wedding. A summer crew that got along famously ... and then near-civil-war. Trips that went smoothly followed by sudden reminders that I really shouldn't rent cars. Snow at just plain ridiculous times. Okay, so that last one tends to happen every year. Still. The bottom line is that when things keep swinging back and forth like that, it's hard to ever feel settled. With a personality that tends toward overdoing anything -- taking on hobbies by the handful, spending more, staying out later, staying up longer -- getting off balance is a fast and easy way to invite trouble. The big things bleed into the little things which bleed into the everyday things and all of the sudden I'm lost in the middle of Cleveland with no memory of how I got there. It's awful. Much like that paragraph. For 2016, I decided to strive for balance. Two months int