Week 8

Day 49: Sept 28, 2014

Damn it!! So last night was rough. I am pretty sure that I had a fever last night and it felt as though someone was pushing with all of their weight on my eyebrows. I woke up feeling a little better so I went to breakfast and made my lunch but as it got closer to departure time I began to feel worse. Hopefully there will be another chance next weekend but either way I think it would not be a good idea for me to be outside and away from the village for 12 solid hours. At least, by staying back, I will be able to rest and hopefully get better faster. I ended up sleeping for an extra 8 hours today and it was definitely needed. I will probably do the same thing tomorrow. It can't hurt right?

Day 50: Sept 29, 2014

An explosives truck drove through the village today. It was probably the most exciting thing to happen all day. Other than that I drank about 3 liters of water and hung out in the pottery studio for about an hour. It was a very chill day. In the evening a group of us watched a movie called It Takes Two. It stars Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen and I think that should tell you enough. It was funny and horrible all at the same time.

Day 51: Sept 30, 2014

I was exhausted all day. I almost fell asleep at the coffee cart in the morning (it is so nice and warm inside) so I decided to go to sleep right after lunch. The most notable thing today was when the transport came in. there were so many boxes that they had to put some stuff up on the roof. It turns out that the school doesn't know how to read when ordering things. They meant to order 12 hula hoops but, instead, ordered 12 dozen. We now have more hula hoops than villagers. It is pretty great.

Day 52: Oct 1, 2014

So last night I spent a good hour coughing. Luckily, it was still fairly early at night (10:30ish) so I didn't keep anyone up except for myself. It was one of those coughs where if you are sitting up or standing you are ok but as soon as you recline at all it comes back. I was able to take some cough medicine but then I still had to wait for it to kick in. So, I went and got some tea that is supposed to help and sat up for a little while. Other than that today was pretty normal. I took a nap in the afternoon and knit in the evening. I think I will take some cough medicine earlier tonight so I don't end up awake way past when I should be.

Day 53: Oct 2, 2014

Today was once again pretty average. Although, I didn't nap as long this afternoon which is a good sign right? Also, there was free ice cream tonight!! So, that was super exciting. Oh, and the Packers slaughtered the Vikings. It was one of those games that I really wish I could have watched on TV. I guess I will just have to get up early tomorrow so I can watch the highlights while the internet is fast-ish.

Day 54: Oct 3, 2014

A hiking we will go! A hiking we will go! Hi ho the hikeys go, a hiking we will go!! I am so excited because I am feeling better (I am at about 85%) which means that I can go hiking to Copper Basin tomorrow! So today was pretty normal, some long-term staff left which was kind of sad but that is how life is here at Holden. In the afternoon I made some sport weight yarn into worsted weight. I doubled it and then doubled it again. Because I started with a regular hank of yarn it took a while to double it the first time but the second time went quickly. I needed a navy blue for a hat that I am making for someone here and there was only one ball of navy in the Craft Cave (where yarn is free) so I am doing what I can with what I have. I think it is going to turn out to be a great hat but it did not start out easy. In the afternoon/evening I packed up my backpack for tomorrow and I sat on the porch and listened to music with Leah and Alex. Now it is time to go to bed early (9pm) so that I will be nice and rested for tomorrow when I have to get up at 5:30 ish. I am trying for my 8 hours tonight :).

Day 55: Oct 4, 2014

Today was wonderful. The hike up to Copper basin was rough. For the first half I pretty much walked on my own since I didn't want to slow the group down but they stopped for a little while at the lower basin so I ended up catching them then. The hike is about 3 miles one way but it is pretty much straight up to get there so it took us about 3 hours to get to the upper basin. We had to be out for a total of 12 hours just because of the construction. The fact that we were able to do this hike at all was kinda a big deal because officially the trail going to Copper Basin is closed because it is on the side of the creek with construction. There were times when I wasn't sure if I was going to make it but I am so glad that I stuck it out and made it all the way because it was so beautiful and such a wonderful way to spend a day. Because we had so much time to complete the hike we spent about 6 hours in the basin. Part of the time I was hiking up to a snow field that I saw and the rest of the time I was either hanging out in my hammock or sitting on the ground reading a book. I tried to nap but I think I was too cold. If I would have been in one of the two person hammocks I could have shared body heat with someone but I was still fairly comfortable on my own. There were eight of us that went today: Dennis (I think he is in his 60s), Jeff (the Chief firefighter who is in his 50s), and then a few twenty somethings- Jess, Ellen, Kari, Alex, Laura, and me. Four of us headed down a little earlier than the others partly because it was starting to rain but I went partly because I wanted to make sure that we had plenty of time to get back. I am much faster going down but I knew that I would feel better if I ended up waiting at the pick up spot than if I was running to get back on time. We all made it to the bus on time and we were able to get dinner without rushing too much before we had to go to vespers. It was a wonderful but tiring day.