The glorious life of a "traveler" . . .

My friend, Angela, asked me to post pictures of where I live a while ago. These are my extravagant accommodations! They are "free" to me and I don't spend much time here. I am only here for another 2 weeks or so and I have done much better about keeping this place tidier!

I brought the quilt coverlet for when I have to provide

my bedding. Decided to use it in the hotel too!

: ) I do miss having a house to make more of a "home" and having a place to have people over. But, for the time being, this keeps me warm and dry. I look forward to a 3-month assignment so I can have a one bedroom apartment (some day)!

Comments

Half Dome: Did I mention? I'm afraid of heights . . .

I kept hearing about "Half Dome" when people would talk about Yosemite. I was always intrigued and thought I would see what the big deal was. As I researched hiking Half Dome in Yosemite, I found many blogs, a few articles, and lists about the dangers of this climb. Coworkers would talk about the stories of hikers witnessing people slide off the edge to their deaths and their own adventuresome tales of making to the top and back down again safely, getting lost and having to find their way back to camp in the dark with flashlights. Not to mention, there are two large waterfalls and a rushing (raging in the spring) river to consider, which has claimed hundreds of lives of healthy people, just out for a day hike. The warnings to proceed with caution and care are very present. The hike is a 14-16 mile round trip, normally, depending on which trails you take. Jeff and I hiked up the Mist Trail and down the John Muir Trail, so, including our 1 mile each...

Clarity

There are moments you just know things. Like when you know something is right or when something is wrong. There are moments you see things clearly and it all makes sense and you don't have to fight the blur of distraction of life. There are moments when you can see a bigger picture, unhindered by the tunnel-vision of the task-driven day-to-day routine. There are moments, when the clouds break, you stop and see things, realize things and bask in a simple reality, even if ever so briefly. Today as the sun broke through several days of rain and gloom to shine some light on the beauty being born beneath the darkness of the clouds, today became a day of clarity, of stepping back and seeing a bigger picture, of seeing the beauty and renewal of the heavy rains and dark clouds. And it was a beautiful and calmly serene day. The hills are brilliantly emerald green, dotted with little orange poppies and yellow mustard flowers. The trees are blooming their flow...

Texas Men and Texas

There’s nothing like the smell of a cleaned up Texas man. Those of you, who have grown up in West Texas or small-town Texas or have roots there, know what I’m talking about. These are the men who go out and work the pasture or land, whether be it farming, ranching, working out in the oil fields or in the oil or gas refineries, out on the feedlots, or any other trade. These men go work hard all day and come home in their dirty shirts, oily, smelling like the tractor or truck and dirt, hair disheveled (if they have their hair under their sweaty hat--maybe they already have that hat-induced receding hairline), kick off their boots and take a deep breath and go, “Whew!” There’s nothing like receiving a hug from a dirty Texas man. Then, for public or special occasions, they “get cleaned up.” They go wash off the dirt and grit from a long day of work, put on their best starched and pressed button up shirt, tuck it into their starched wranglers wi...

Adventures

Search This Blog