Week 6

Day 35: Sept 14, 2014

Welcome to another week! So, even though today was my day off I still woke up right around 5am. I tried to roll over and go back to sleep but that magical rest would not come. I decided last night that if I woke up early enough I would go for a walk down Ten Mile Creek trail so when I couldn't get back to sleep I decided to get dressed and go out once it got light enough. As I was walking down the stair from our porch, Benji yelled out the window to wait up. So, instead of a solitary walk we went together and looked for bears. Apparently, there have been a few sightings of a mom and two cubs in the area so it was worth looking out for them. We ended up not seeing any but it was a nice walk any way. The rest of my day was filled with searching for knitting patterns and painting a glass jar that I am going to store some tea in. I am exhausted and it is only 8:30....

Day 36: Sept 15, 2014

A wonderful day off. Sometimes I wish I could sleep all day on these days. I woke up early, once again but today I just hung out around my room before breakfast. I basically napped, knit, and cleaned today. The only main activity today that differed from other days was the evening batik class and a wonderful nighttime conversation with Riley. Once my batik is washed and everything I will show it to you. I think it turned out really nice.

Day 37: Sept 16, 2014

Well, I woke up at 4am today.. I was wide awake so I decided to just get up and turn on the machine early. I still had at least a half hour to burn so I walked down by the creek and watched the night crew dig holes. It was surprisingly peaceful. I also found out today that I am going to start training someone on the coffee cart tomorrow. She will be working the cart on my days off which means that people will be happier on mondays! This afternoon was joyous. Right after lunch, Sam arrived in the village (we went to school and studied abroad together) which was exciting. Then I helped Mark write his request for an extension (He decided he wants to stay until May). After all of that excitement I decided to go for a walk down to Ten Mile Creek. I even brought my hammock for a wonderful afternoon spent in the woods where I could only hear the sounds of the rushing water and the sounds of construction were drowned out. It was so great. I stayed there until I finished my book. In the evening I made a sign for Alex's door to welcome him back from his out. Since we no longer have a mouse problem, I found a picture of a cat and wrote “I heard you were coming home so I eated all of the mice”. It is adorable.

Day 38: Sept 17, 2014

I started training someone to open the coffee cart on my day off! This means that I won't have to hear about how I wasn't there on monday and blah blah blah. The village took basically a class picture today. We all lined up in our fluorescent shirts and vests and took a grand ol' picture out in front of the creek/barrier wall. We watched Frozen at night and I started working on a knitting a sock. Other than that, not much happen and I found out that my picture was mislabeled in my yearbook. I think it is kinda funny. Hopefully it won't affect future reunions but if it does, it does and it will be something to laugh at.

Day 39: Sept 18, 2014

So, this morning about 10 minutes after I got up, the fire alarm in the village went off. I was already awake so it was no big deal for me but as I walked toward the cart and a hose house (to help if needed) I saw many flustered and drowsy villagers and remediation workers. It was kind of fun to see the village so awake when I got up. I don't think they appreciated it as much as I did. Other than that it was another normal day here. In the evening, we had the first meeting of the pottery “club” (aka people who want to spend a fair amount of time in the studio and/or have a project in mind that they want to do). The potter basically just showed us around and introduced us to the space. After vespers I worked in the bookstore where it was packed for the first half hour and then pretty quiet after that so I was able to finish the sock that I was working on so I will start the second one tomorrow. Tomorrow is Fun Fact Friday!! Which also means that I have only two more work days until my weekend when I can sleep in!

Day 40: Sept 19, 2014

This morning I made 4 drinks before 5:45. We don't actually open until 6. That was how my morning started but was actually not indicative of the rest of the morning. I think a lot of my usual miner customers are out of the village right now because it seems to be slightly quieter. Although, I could also just be getting used to the number of people and have more practice at making drinks at this point. I even had time to wipe down the inside of the shelves that are open to the air (they were really kinda gross with dust and whatnot.) The rest of the day was normal except that after dinner and before vespers a few members of the Holden Village board came up and announced the new directors. No one really knew who they were so it was an interesting reaction (aka there really wasn't one). They only thing that I think really got a reaction was the fact that change was mentioned quite a few times and I think that made some people uncomfortable. I mean, you have to realize that some of these people have been coming up here for 20+ years and the remediation was a huge issue for them so talk of changing more things on this side of the river was not necessarily a welcome thought. However, I think there won't be as much change as the new directors are thinking they would like to do. I feel like this is similar to when politicians say that they will do this, this and this when they get into office and then when they are elected very little of what they said that they would do actually gets done. I really don't have much of an opinion on the new directors other than that they look like nice people. I don't know them and have no idea who else might have been in the pool of possibilities so I am forced to trust that the call committee did a good job and I am sure that they did. They are as invested in this place as we are, maybe even more.

Day 41: Sept 20, 2014

I saw Jupiter this morning! It was hanging out just above and to the left of the moon this morning and was visible even as the sun came up (well, until the sun broke on the horizon). I rinsed out my yarn that I dyed on thursday and it looks pretty great. The plan is to make some felted slippers out of it and so the yarn is dyed fairly dark. Hopefully it will felt well (it should, it is wool but you never know). Practically half of the village left today to go on hikes. Most of my friends went to one of the lakes down by Lake Chelan but since I have to work tonight I had to stay back. It kinda sucks but that is part of life. The few of us 20-somethings who are still here are going to hang out together tonight. There was talk of putting together a puzzle (yeah, it is going to be a real party) but who knows what else we might do. -Later- So Mark and James came back from their hike tonight and invited me to hang out in the hot tub with them. Since I had been hoping to go in this weekend anyway, I decided to talk with them about their hike and about life in general. It was nice and relaxing (I even gave out girl advice. It was great.) I feel kinda bad about not hanging out with the other girls but sometimes you just need to hang out with guys. There is so much less drama or pent up anger or frustration or whatever it may be at the time. Plus, both of these guys would be considered “safe” (aka not going to hit on you and are generally just good guys that you can be just friends with). All in all, it turned out to be a wonderful night and I am almost done with my second sock! Also, and here is the best part, I have tomorrow off!!!