Broad Leaf Aster

I remember learning about the Aster plant.

I couldn't have been more than 10 years old. Grandma and I were canoeing along west shore of Hubbard Lake (as we used to spend many summer afternoons doing) and when we rounded the point into the bay of the West Branch River, we sat there surrounded by the lily pads. Along the shoreline in the bay were some plants which Grammy pointed out to me as "nature's toilet paper". I never thought she was serious about the toilet paper part... I just thought she used the toilet paper imagery to make sure I understood how soft it was. Lo and behold though, people do use it for that purpose. Every time I see the furry little plant I smile and think about what my young mind thought when I learned about "nature's toilet paper". I remember that canoe trip into the bay (as well as the many before and after it).


Things have been going fine. Today is Becka's 9th Birthday! (Yay!) I called her this morning - she didn't seem super excited or anything but it was still good to hear her/mom. I miss everyone at home so much - only 21 days left on contract and then the 2-3 Quet trip and the 3 day trek from Quet through Chicago back home.

John (History director) is back on base as of this afternoon and that means I'm no longer in charge. It also means a lot less fun around the history department for the next 20 days... Oh well. At least we got a little bit of a break?

Oh I can't wait to come back home. I miss you all!

Day off!

Yesterday, Carl and I shared a day off :)

He came and woke me up (earlier than I would wake for a work day...) and we set off. I packed us some lunches in the kitchen and we obtained a GPS so we could go geocach Secret Blackstone! We got about half way through the cache but had a really hard time finding the fourth one so we gave up and just continued the hike around the Ennis loop (which was nice in itself ... aside from the BUGS (I have so many red welts its not even funny.)). There was one point in our trek (when we were nearest Ennis lake) where we lost the trail so we kind of made up our own... we climbed through some marshland and up the face of a cliff (not a very steep one but still). THAT was an adventure. When we got to the top though (where the cahce was supposed to be) Carl found me some blueberries :D

After we finished our hike and returned our GPS to the baypost (because Don Lee wanted it by 4:30 for some reason...?), we headed into town to stop by the bank and the BLUEBERRY FESTIVAL! Its been so long since I've been to an art festival! We wandered for a long time just looking at the different vendors and the different crafts and goods they had to offer to us - we didn't buy anything well... except PIE (a la mode of course!) and a ruben for Carl.

Then , we headed to Virginia where we saw Harry Potter (my second time) and it was just still as good as it was when I saw it a week ago :)

John got sent out on a trip of his own because we're so short staffed with regard to interpreters right now and so I'm in charge for the next week - of course its a great feeling (as per usual). We're doing wash right now and I'm full of itchy red welts (...must...not... itch!). Less than 30 days now until we are done here - I'm so excited. Still really nervous about taking that Quet trip with Carl but I keep hearing that I'll be fine. I miss everyone and everything at home so much! Ah civilization... I' m just not too excited about having to buy textbooks...

Photo Post!

Things have been going pretty well lately.

Carl came off water today and it makes me so glad to have him back if only for a few days :) His crew seems great and as always, I hope they all had a great time!

Plenty has been going on here on base - I've gotten pretty close with Kate Weber (an interpreter from Carl's training brigade), Roger Potter (an interpreter who goes to U of M!!) and Adam Brown (who works in the Commissary/Bay Post). They've been really great to me through some History department problems... we went for DQ the other day and we've been spending time after supper some nights picking raspberries.

And so... pictures!

Nothing has changed...

I feel pretty bad about not keeping this as up to date as I originally planned but in reality, nothing too exciting happens from day to day. Most are the same as the last.

Yesterday I finally found some wild strawberries (how I have forgotten the delicious taste of them!) and so between those and the raspberries that are around, it was a berry delicious afternoon! Maddie Price turned 6 yesterday - I called today to wish her a happy birthday; she seemed excited to hear from me :) I miss that girl!

A little over 4 weeks left here. Carl and I are talking about taking a mini-quetico trip all our own (only 2-3 days?) at the end of the season. I think he's pretty excited to show me everything there is out there but I'm pretty anxious that I won't be able to hack it... though I have seen "girlier" girls head out into the wild this summer. I'm just worried about the portages - I'm not exactly the strongest person alive... Then the trek back to Chicago (dispite it being longer that way... we told Andrew we would pick some things up for him in Quet and take them back to him...) and then HOME.

Off to work once again - another afternoon full of engegements and then the evening rendezvous...

PICTURE POST!!

July 4(this is Belle, one of Sarah's many puppies quenching her thirst at
the Ely parade on the very hot 4th of July we had)

(The Ely dance squad did a Michael Jackson dance (which was choreographed BEFORE he died)

ROPE SWING!!



OTHER MISC PICTURES



(The giant loon decoy)

JULY 12 SECRET BLACKSTONE HIKE!
(we found some wild raspberries YUM!)

(check out that beard!)

A Week Later...

Not much has been happening really. We're about halfway though the summer now and things have been fine.

Dad, Brian and Carl made it back safe (or at least alive) from their trip and it sounds like they had a great time. Now, the two visitors are back home and Carl is still here until ... Tuesday? I think.

I got a package of books from Mrs M the other day :) it made me so happy to know that people who are not my family are thinking of me. I've finished Sybil today and am already a good 50 pages into Silence of the Lambs.

Yesterday, Carl was searching his car for something and managed to find my old iPod under the passenger seat of big blue - we thought it was gone forever! Now I have two... hmm. So that was exciting - I still find it quite hard to believe. Now that I know how though, maybe I'll put movies on that one and use the new one exclusively for music? Or maybe I'll just give him the old one - not that he listens to much music anyway? I still need/want to get pictures of the 4th up. I'll do it soon - I promise!

Fantastic Fourth

Yesterday was one of the best 4th of Julys I've had in a long time. I headed toward Ely to go to my friend/roomie Sarah's house (and Katie her sister and my beetis buddy). We had so much fun! We went into town to watch the parade during which I got a REALLY bad sunburn... and then we headed back to her house and did some floating/swimming/kyaking/water sporting which was so fantastic. Its always so much more fun with friends! Then, after dinner, we hung around for a bit and headed back into town to watch the Ely fireworks which was also so great. I'll have to upload pictures from the day later (or tomorrow or in a few days or whenever I get a chance...). Carl, Dad and Brian come off water in a few days now so that's exciting. Rendezvous tonight of course... John is taking the next 2.5 days off (which I find FANTASTIC) so I'm pretty much in charge...

Not much has been happening... not much that is exciting in anyway that is.

Every day is still the same... wake up, morning chores, lunch, afternoon engagement, dinner, rendezvous, bed ... and the cycle goes on.

I finished White Oleander (which we much recall Carl got me for my birthday) and it was delicious and now I'm onto Sybil which is going pretty well. It makes me miss my psych classes a lot. Oh well. Fall is coming soon, right?

Tomorrow is the 4th (duah) and I'm pretty sure I'm headed out to Sarah's house (a roomie) for a little get together. Should be fun times. And... that's all I have I suppose. Carl, Brian and Dad are still on water of course. They get back off ... next Thursday I think.