The Myth & The Majesty

After Thursday's post, I got to thinking about my own year. And you know what? 2016 wasn't awful. It was a little weird at times, but overall my personal year went ... fairly well. To help me illustrate this point, I've pulled a few pictures from the archives and a few new ones off my phone. There was the Run for the Rangers in ... March? Seriously, guys, when was this? I mostly remember absurdly good weather and making pretty okay time, considering it was a run/walk and I fell solidly on the "walk" side of things. Then there was my brief appearance on the Today Show . I'm still baffled that that was ever a thing. Later in April, I got to attend my sister-in-law's graduate recital. She's really talented, guys. And in May there was the Great Bike Chase , which included things like the incredibly picturesque Shenandoah Valley. Some quality hammock time. And some distillery tours.

It has been an excruciating, fascinating year. I know. I know people are angry about 2016. It's been a year of death and destruction and a lot of fear. We have a President-elect that makes half the country nervous and the other half ... kind of smug. (Not a good combination. And yes, I know I'm seriously downplaying that right now because quite frankly, I still don't know what else to say.) And we lost a stack of artists, athletes, and pioneers -- Prince and David Bowie, Alan Rickman and Gene Wilder, from as young as Anton Yelchin at 27 to John Glenn at 95. Muhammad Ali, Arnold Palmer, Elie Wiesel, Harper Lee, Dave Mirra, Janet Reno, Leonard Cohen, Garry Marshall, Sharon Jones, Ron Glass, Florence Henderson, Carrie Fisher, Debbie Reynolds, and oh my goodness, this could be a really long list. [Both Dean Martin and Frank Sinatra's sons died, too. Sheesh.] Plus all the bombings and shootings and violence. Somehow, I'd forgotten that the club shooting in

After a Thanksgiving that tended to extremes (a lot of fun when it could be, and downright terrible later), we were apparently in need of a relaxing and entertaining Christmas.  Good news: we got it. It started with a sibling night. We descended on Shorty & Miss M's place for an evening of games and jerk chicken. [You know that's right.] And then the climbing. Shorty has a climbing cave in his basement and it's awesome. Oh yeah -- and some Pokemon hunting, leading us to explore Highmore a bit. Highmore is like most small towns I've seen -- everything is walking distance and people are fairly friendly, but if you're unfamiliar folks stare at you in the grocery store. C'est la vie. The 'rents appeared the next day, which was all about food, church, and cat toys. There was no shortage of any of that, either -- none of us are capable of appearing empty-handed, Shorty had three Christmas Eve services to do, and there were two

I would love to say something profound about family and holidays ... but I'm a bit preoccupied by family. And holidays. And food. So here's a picture of my furry nephew instead. Merry Christmas, all, and stay safe on this wet and stormy day.

Okay! Wow. I, um ... Huh. A lot of people read that last post. In this case, "a lot" means it's now my most popular individual post. Which seems a little wrong, chiefly because of the things it surpassed. I feel like I should find a way to capitalize off this newfound exposure, but I'm a poor capitalist. Plus right now I really want to talk about Pokemon Go. ... What? Some time back, I asked someone to explain the game to me. Whether or not she actually saw that post, my explanation came in an unlikely form -- Mia Sorella is an avid player and she was quite excited when I mentioned (in passing) that I might want to check it out. In my data-gathering mind, I found that three of my very favorite people (including said sister) play, and as they are all grown adults that I happen to respect, I started paying a bit more attention. Then Thanksgiving happened. ... Go Mystic. The significance here is that (a) by Thanksgiving, I had a new phone that had the

I’m leaving Storm Mountain.  People who know me only as Camp Ashley are going to find that hard to believe; people who knew me before are still a little surprised I landed here in the first place. Either way, I feel like I need to explain myself.  This is probably my favorite Curly Girl Design . I came to Storm on a full-time basis four years ago. It wasn’t a decision I made lightly, nor would I have believed it only three months before that. The stack of coincidences that led to that decision were not to be ignored, however, and I was actually relieved when it came about – it was what needed to happen at that point in time and I was finally listening. Four years. Four years of guests, kids, toilets, computer issues, hikes, campfires, and off-kilter schedules . Four years doesn’t seem like that long, but oh my goodness, has a lot happened. Those four years have seen thousands of guests and campers, a few dozen summer staff, my parents moving to Rapid City, and both of

Eesh. There's just something about this...

It's like South Dakota got its own special blue blanket... I wasn't dreaming of a white Christmas, but I suppose I'll take it. The temperatures, on the other hand? That's getting out of hand. We've already hit the high for today (6 degrees. Fahrenheit.) and tomorrow's high is a balmy -1 degrees, with a breeze that will make things very pleasant. And it doesn't look much better from here to Wisconsin, or even down to Denver. Stay safe, folks. And for crying out loud, stay inside if you have the option.

John Glenn died, folks. My brother posted about this on his Facebook page with the question of why no one is talking about it -- so I'm talking about it. John Glenn, a pioneer in space travel -- the first American to orbit the earth -- the last of the original group of men selected to be astronauts (the Mercury Seven) -- the oldest human to go into space (in 1998 at age 77) -- has died. In certain circles, this news exploded. This is a man who not only went into space, but served in World War II and the Korean War.  [Holy cow, Ted Williams was his wingman for a time in the Korean War. Because the world isn't as big as we think.] After and among all that, he was in the US Senate for a quarter of a century, even vied for a spot on the Democratic Presidential ticket in 1976. This is a man that was married for 73 years to the same woman, who had a family and a life outside of all those accomplishments. I'm still a bit in awe. Yesterday, we lost someone who actively

This past Sunday I managed to gather some pretty awesome people and climb Black Elk for the twelfth time this year. [Note: "Twelfth" is a weird word to spell.] It was possibly the last day of December that would be over 35 degrees and one of the few that I could manage a hike with others -- so plans were made and at 12:30, we met up at Sylvan Lake. Yes. 12:30 is a late start to a December hike around here. Sunset was officially at 4:15, so we didn't really waste time getting up there. That's right. I register. You only have to have one run-in with a ranger... As it happened, it was a perfectly clear day and not too cold. And a great day for some awkward tower selfies. Naturally, I started to think about stats on this particular hike. I've climbed the peak around 50 times total now over the course of about 22 years. 40% of those have been in the last five years. This year, I managed to get six of the monthly hikes done in the

"But I am sure I have always thought of Christmas time, when it has come round — apart from the veneration due to its sacred name and origin, if anything belonging to it can be apart from that — as a good time; a kind, forgiving, charitable, pleasant time; the only time I know of, in the long calendar of the year, when men and women seem by one consent to open their shut-up hearts freely, and to think of people below them as if they really were fellow-passengers to the grave, and not another race of creatures bound on other journeys."  - Fred, Scrooge's nephew, A Christmas Carol.

Even at dinner tonight in Rapid, this was the story. I recommend going straight to the Argus Leader link below: Building Collapse in Sioux Falls Sad, strange day in my hometown.