Full Moon, Gold Medals and a Man Behaving Badly

Well it has been quite the weekend. The moon last night was so bright I didn't need a flashlight outside when I went to check on my Dad's pool. If it weren't for the copious amount of mosquitoes, I would have been very happy to sit outside after a very long afternoon. I was left in a really angry mood after the man in the above title proved to be far more ignorant and selfish than I had imagined. If there is one thing all the dating I have done has given me it is the gift to cut people loose. I am a very happy person and do not need a man to make me happy. But I don't need one to make me unhappy either and that was what was happening. When it gets to the point where you can't remember what you even liked about a person, it's time to go. So I went.

I was in a much better mood watching the Olympics. And helped because I do feel like a weight has been lifted (a large, annoying weight) and look forward to this week of traveling for work and pleasure. And I am also very happy with my new coffee table my Mom scored for me at an estate sale. Thanks Mom :-)

Strenuous

So after a busy week of work, travel and way too much time in front of the computer or my blackberry, it was time for some fresh air. Luckily I had a friend who suggested going for a hike on Saturday. I was more than game. Post hike I found a trail description with the first word to describe the hike as strenuous. It sure was!

We headed for the White Mountains and a few ominous black clouds did not deter us. We headed up the docile sounding Blueberry (Ledge) Trail. I caught the blueberry part but clearly missed the ledge part while looking at the map. The blueberries were delicious and the ledges were a challenge. It was certainly kicking my butt towards the top but my friend was wonderful in her attempts to spur me on. Besides, once we got to the top, it was lunchtime! The sun ended up coming out and we had a great lunch, though the sandwich place really screwed up our sandwiches.

The hike down was different, due to a slightly different trail. It was pretty as we walked along a raging brook from all the rain. The rain also gave the woods a very Alice in Wonderland feel with all the giant mushrooms. Not needing to be bigger or smaller, we left them alone.

Laughing Through the Tears

I am no stranger to grief or loss. The joke is that my Irish heritage makes this unavoidable in a way. True, I am intimately familiar with the workings of wakes and funerals but I think of it as more of a symptom of having a very large family than anything else.

It was recently that my family suffered the untimely loss of my uncle. This was my stepfather's younger brother. He went to sleep and never woke up. My stepfather has been in my life from my earliest memories. He was a friend of my parents during the years they were married. At first I wasn't quite sure about this hunting and fishing family. But I have come to love and treasure it. These hunters and fishermen taught me the value of the outdoors. To sit in a treestand with a bow waiting for a deer requires patience of the sort I can barely attain with yoga. I learned the utmost respect for nature and the creatures that inhabit it. If a deer or a fish was going to give up it's life, the very least we could do is to respect it and give thanks.

There was a private funeral service which brought forth the laughter through tears of the title. As we sat and shared memories, it was utterly heartbreaking and so very sad to see my grandparents mourn the loss of their son.