A weekend of thinking

This past weekend my friend Emily and I went camping in one of our National Park. I had no idea that we had a National Park so close to where I've been living for the past six months. But, as it turns out, the Black Canyon National Park is about a 2 hour drive away from me. Emily lives in Aspen, and I live in Crested Butte and we decided to meet for a girls camping extravaganza somewhere between our two towns. Oddly, Crested Butte and Aspen are about 22 miles apart, as the crow flies, but, because of mountains, Em and I had to meet 80 miles away from both of our towns. But I digress.

I am currently nursing a very bad case of tendonitis or tenosynovitis in my elbow. Basically, it's very severe tennis elbow, or, as I now call it: "mopping elbow." I'm not even allowed to lift a coffee cup with my right arm. So I decided to go camping.

Anyway, as I was driving to meet Em, I started to think back on the great things I had the opportunity to do as a kid. Before I turned into a Goth, I did spend some time in the outdoors, and apparently, those things I did when I was younger remained in my soul so that one day I would return to the outdoors again. I understand that the outdoors are not for everyone. But, I do think it is important for an individual to spend some time camping, or hiking, or skiing or something, so that they can decide for themselves how to enjoy the outdoors. As sad as it sounds, I personally would not be able to cook for myself if I hadn't ever camped. I still cook as though I'm cooking over my portable camp stove (use one pot for the entire meal, reuse the pasta water to make hot cocoa later, or as a hot water bottle at night). And, as much as I love to surround myself with nifty things (music, ipods, down comforters, snowboards, skis, my car, objects of art, etc), it wasn't until I had to carry everything I needed for day to day survival on my back that I realized how much of the stuff I own I didn't actually "need." Of course, this is why many of us opt to have a permanent place to call home. I myself will soon be living in a 3B in a nice little suburb of Salt Lake City, with a white picket fence (no joke) and a peace garden. And, I can't wait to have the garage to fill with all of my ski gear, and eventually maybe a printing press and typecases. Oh joy! And maybe a little garden with tomatoes and basil and cucumbers and lavender so that I can have fresh herbs and veggies to cook with, should I ever learn to cook like a normal person...

But, the reason I say all this is that I had a lot of time to think about how much I would love to be available to all of my nieces (an nephews?) and take them out camping, or teach them how to ski if ever any of them wanted to. So, I'm advertising my services as an Aunt-for-Hire. And, if any of the mothers or fathers or grandparents of these wonderful nieces of mine ever wanted to join me in my outdoor pursuits, you are all more than welcome.

just putting that out there.