Week 49

Oh man, this was week 49. That is crazy. Well, here is what happened in week 49 of my year at Holden Village:

Day 336: Jul 12, 2015

It was a beautiful day outside. Almost chilly compared to what we have had in the last few weeks.

Day 337: Jul 13, 2015

Another beautiful day in the mountains.

Day 338: Jul 14, 2015

We have officially been down graded to a level one evacuation!!! I can stop living out of my suitcase!! Tomorrow, I take the day off and go to Holden Lake!

Day 339: Jul 15, 2015

My hike was wonderful! I left the village at 5:30am (mainly because I was awake anyway) and spent the morning hiking up 22+ switchbacks and through an avalanche shoot, berry patches, forests and meadows to Holden Lake. It was a gorgeous day for a hike- high in the low 70s and it started out cool enough to wear long sleeves. I hiked alone but had music playing so I would not surprise any bears that I might come across. I really enjoy hiking alone because it means that I can go at my own speed and because of that I only had to stop once on my way up the switchbacks and that was mainly because I needed to take my long sleeves off. It took about 3 hours to get up to the lake, I spent about an hour exploring the lake and saying hi to the marmots and then took about 2 hours to come back down. I noticed some really awesome rocks on my way up but decided to not pick them up until I was on my way back. That way I would at least have less water weight on my back and could replace that weight with rocks :). I was kind of disappointed because I heard there were some “really awesome” rocks and there were some cool ones but no “really awesome” ones. I think I ended up spending more time picking huckleberries, black raspberries, and thimbleberries than I did looking for rocks. Most of the rocks were pretty much the same -sparkly/metallic with mica but I did find a really cool piece of core that had been drilled that had some quartz crystals in it. I ended up with probably 7 rocks and 2 cups of the various berries. I ended up back in the village at around 12:30 which meant that I had time to shower and take a nap!! When I woke up from my nap, though, it was like I had been seriously injured. I was limping like crazy because my butt muscles were so sore. It was actually kind of funny. I ended the day with an open mic night where I performed a piece that I had written to remind myself and others that although the darkness seems to close in on us, it will not last forever if we don't let it.

Day 340: Jul 16, 2015

Vespers was lovely tonight. We started a new weekly vespers where we sit outside, sing one or two songs and then people are given free reign. We can go for walks, have conversations or stay and listen to some music. I chose to sit and listen for a while. It was really nice to be outside and listening to Levi and Elizabeth play some songs. I really enjoyed it.

Day 341: Jul 17, 2015

A pretty average day that ended in a birthday party with homemade ice cream.

Day 342: Jul 18, 2015

Tonight was the block party!!! I made 16 bags of popcorn and we brought our bean bag game up the hill to share. There was even a little tea party. I definitely made too much popcorn so I went around to different areas where remediation folks hang out to try to off load some. It kind of worked but I still probably could have made 8 bags and been fine. Oh well. I got to hang out with Thunderpaws the cat and I found a few black raspberry bushes and enjoyed a few of their berries. They were delicious.