Day 21: Aug 31, 2014
Today was a wonderful day
off. I woke up early just because my body is use to it but I was able
to get breakfast and then go right back to sleep. It was amazing! I
ended up sleeping until 11am. Granted, there was an hour and a half
awake time in between but still. A girl who graduated Luther with me
came in on the boat today! Her name is Riley and she is going to be
the garbologist for a year. We hung out a little in the afternoon
while she was waiting to go to orientation. She also lives in my
chalet which is pretty cool. After Eucharist, tonight, there were ice
cream sundaes in the dining hall and a bunch of us hung out for a
while until we decided to watch the Incredibles (such a great film).
The rest of the night was filled with laughter and sleepiness induced
hilarity. I also received a wonderful massage, which worked out a few
of the many knots that I have acquired over the last long while. It
hurt but my back feels better than it has in a while. I think all of
the knitting that I have been doing has been making me tense my
shoulder blade muscles and they haven't really had the chance to work
out that stress. All I know is that my back is at least a little
better than it was before. The guys, Benji and Mark, have just ran to
the dining hall for a late night snack so I figured while I was
waiting for them to get back this would be a good time to write. Hope
all is well!!
Day 22: Sept 1, 2014
Happy Labor Day!! So the
village did not actually have the day off nor did the miners.
However, since my day off is normally on Mondays I was off today! In
the morning I went on a wonderful exploration hike up in the old
mining town. Since the main road is traveled more now because we
can't use the road I decided to hike on the deer trails. One of said
trails led to the upper street that used to be part of the town.
Because it is less traveled there was much more over growth and old
pieces of rusting metal (which always make for good pictures, right
Dad?). After my little walk and junk hunt I went back to my room and
wasted some time before lunch by watching some tv shows that I got
from Alex and knitting the blanket that I have been working on (it is
almost done!!). Because it is Labor Day the kitchen decided to have a
picnic for dinner and the mine remediation guys got off of work early
so we were able to have one big group meal. It was nice to be able to
see the guys (and gals) and interact with them. Sometimes it feels
like we don't even live in the same isolated little town. I mean, I
see about 20 of them in the mornings when they get coffee but I never
see them all at once, all together. After/ during dinner we had some
games to celebrate the “end of summer”. The first was a three
legged race- I was still eating so did not participate. Next came the
water balloon toss. It started out with primarily Holden people and
kids but by the second and third round we had many miner spectators
and even a few participators. The final game was a tug-of-war. First,
we just split up the groups fairly evenly and played (my side won).
Then we had a mine remediation vs Holden volunteer tug. At first we
thought that they were going to win it hands down but as Holden
people saw that we were starting to lose they came running. I think
it ended up being about 30 Holden-ites to 15 remediation workers. It
was pretty great.
After vespers we had
Monday night fútbol where I met Eric who is an intern on the other
side of the creek. He is always at Monday soccer but today was the
first time that I actually talked to him for more than a second. I
found out that he is going to school for environmental engineering
(which I am thinking that I might like to do... or hydrology). So we
got to talking and I think we might be friends now! Plus now I can go
up to him and ask questions so I can find out if environmental
engineering might be something that I would want to do (he is much
more approachable than the other environmental engineers). Today was
a pretty great day off but it is back to the coffee grind stone
tomorrow!
Day 23: Sept 2, 2014
It is Trivia Tuesday at
the coffee cart today! Here are the questions I asked today:
Which state does not
border Lake Michigan?
-Michigan -Illinois -Ohio
– Indiana
Greenland is
physiographically considered part of which continent?
-Antarctica -North America
-Asia -Europe
Which 2 teams played in
the first Super Bowl?
-Green Bay vs Chicago
-Kansas City vs Buffalo Bills -Green Bay vs Kansas City -Dallas vs
Baltimore
(The answers are at the
bottom of this post)
The miners were glad to
see me today because apparently the person who was supposed to cover
my day off did not show up. Oh well. I can blame it on Labor Day.
The rest of the day was
pretty normal except that instead of Mark being the hurt one, Benji
is (he sprained his ankle last night). So, after work today I went
back to the chalet and watched movies with Benji and finished the
blanket that I was knitting! It looks awesome and since it is made
with thick wool it is nice and warm. It is big enough for my lap
while still covering my feet and if I curl up it can cover my body. I
love it, which is good since it took 6 skeins of yarn to make. Other
than that we are still on a 2.5 movie a day average and if it keeps
raining like it has we will probably keep that number going strong
since I don't really like to hike/hang out in the rain, especially
cold rain. Tomorrow is Walt Disney Wednesday at the coffee cart! It's
going to be great!
Day 24: Sept 3, 2014
Another fairly normal day.
I finished a hat that I had been making for a Christmas gift so that
was fun. Other than that, my afternoon was filled with a nap and
movie watching which is pretty normal but still nice.
Day 25: Sept 4, 2014
Wanna know what the worst
thing about being here is? Not being able to fully support my boys
(the Packers). Tonight, although the game was playing in one of the
chalets, the game cut right through Vespers (the church service that
I have to go to) and I had to work through to the end. A loss is hard
enough to deal with but it is even harder when you can't actually
watch what is going on. Reading it as it comes up on the screen is
just not quite enough. Ok, rant over. Otherwise my day was about as
normal as ever. I finished another hat and found a pretty awesome
Woolrich shirt in potty patrol so that was exciting. Nothing else to
report so why make you read nonsense?
Day 26: Sept 5, 2014
Let's see... Today some of
my new friends left the village. It was their time to move on out. It
was a little sad to see them go but I have a feeling that they will
be back next summer or even to visit during the winter. Also, either
it is getting warmer at the coffee cart or I am just getting more
used to the change in seasons. In the afternoon I read my book out on
our porch (I'm going to have to get a picture and share it with you.
It is amazing). It was the perfect weather, not too warm (the sun was
not on me directly) and not too cool once I had my flannel on. At
about 4 I decided to walk a little ways into the woods to a nice rock
that is covered in a dry moss and has a tree growing out of the top.
I can see the village from the rock so it is really less than a 5
minute walk in but is perfect for a reading spot. I think it will be
the place where I go when I want some time to myself but don't really
want to be out from more than an hour. Since it is so close I can get
out there and be comfortable while still having enough time to read
or contemplate life or whatever I choose to do at the time. My other
reading spot is about a 30min hike in so it is a good place to spend
an afternoon at or just a place to sit for a little while but I would
need more than an hour if I wanted to sit and relax. Tomorrow is my
Friday! See you then!
Day 27: Sept 6, 2014
Another normal day in the
village! In the afternoon I was going to get movies from Alex but he
ended up busy so I took a walk along the creek and found some cool
rocks. I started a new book today- The Cuckcoo's Calling
by J.K. Rowling. I found it in potty patrol which was pretty
exciting. The bookstore was hopping today, so much so that I didn't
realize that Mark had come in until he had been there for 15min. In
the evening, after work, Mark, Riley, and I watched Oh,
Brother Where Art Thou. It
was a pretty great night.
A note from Mark,
Use the shwartz! Get to
the choppa! Get Down! Wooooraaa! I love pie. There is a lot of pie at
holden village. I hate rocks... there are a lot of rocks at holden...
and I have to move them all, everyday. I love nature, today there
were many deer and little chip monks just chilllin, like villains,
#thegrinch I also enjoy games such as pool, bowling and ping pong, of
witch I played today and lost, oh well. I ate food. Food is good, I
am good at blogging WHAT.
Trivia Answers!!
Which state does not
border Lake Michigan?
-Ohio
Greenland is
physiographically considered part of which continent?
-North America
Which 2 teams played in
the first Super Bowl?
-Green Bay vs Kansas City
I hope you enjoyed the third installment of my weekly blog!
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