Jason and jenn

Paul tagged me. It’s a blogger thing I guess. He said he felt like a tagged animal. I feel more like I’m supposed to come out of hiding and chase somebody. I don’t really like to run, so I’ll get up and admit that I’ve been tagged, but I’m not going to follow the rules. The rules are you get tagged, post 7 little known things about you on your blog, then tag 7 other bloggers. I’ll do the first part, but not the tagging.

And since this is jenn’s and my blog, i’m gonna post only 7 things total about us. I’m such a rebel. At least the tag didn’t include “if you don’t forward this, bad things will happen” statement or my sense of rebellion might be diminished and I might start tagging!! Plus Paul already tagged VA, so I don’t wanna double tag her! She’s got enough on her plate already!

1. Jenn and I don’t like to call eachother by our names. I can type it just fine, and we can refer to one another by our names when talking to others, but we don’t like to “call” each other by our names. She calls me “buddy” most of the time, and I call her “bug”.  We’ve done that for so long at this point, that I have to think to recall the whys. I think buddy comes from us being friends for such a long time… and if I really dig, I think we once sang the song based on the old “My Buddy and Me” toys. So if you remember those toys, it would stand to reason I would refer to her as “Kid sister”, but that would be weird. So “bug” comes from jenn referring to the fact that she “bugs” me.  So while it sounds derogatory, like many words, it has long since lost that connotation and now is a term of endearment.

2.  I don’t like the dark. I have always been afraid of the dark. It’s not so much what is in the dark, but “The Dark” itself.  I could get super spiritual about it really, but I won’t. That’s coming later. Solo backpacking trips have always been tough, and even living alone, I would open the curtains or shades at night to allow a little light to get in. I always want to let a little light get in. Doh, there I go with the spirituality!

3. Jenn is afraid of grates and drains. She doesn’t want to cross them or walk near them. At EKU there were a couple places on campus where the sidewalk crossed large grates, and jenn would avoid those areas like the plague.  If faced with crossing one, she would try to jump or sidestep it. She says it comes from being a kid and watching a 20/20 special (or some other “news” show) about people getting their innards sucked out while sitting on a pool drain.  I can see how that might traumatize someone for life.

4.  I can’t grow a beard. I’m sure its genetic as my dad nor brothers can grow beards, but there was also that incident when I was a pre-teen when I shaved for the first time while my parents were away somewhere. I got my dad’s bull razor and then I looked for some shaving cream. I couldn’t find any, but then noticed some “Hair Removal Creme” in the closet. I thought that must be the same thing, so I rubbed Nair on my face and shaved with it.  It burned so bad that I had tears in my eyes the entire time and my face was beet red an hour later. I knew then that my dad was the toughest man alive.

5. Speaking of my dad being the toughest man alive, He was once stabbed in the back and had to have surgery which gave him a big scar on his side. As a kid, the across the street neighbor’s dad was a vietnam vet who had been injured in the war and also had a big scar on his side. These were the only two men I’d seen without a shirt, and was convinced that there would come a time I would get a big scar on my side. I still don’t have one. I am no longer convinced I need one. In fact… I’ll be okay if I don’t get one.

6. Jenn loves to cook but hates touching raw meat. She’s gotten so much better at it over the years, but she still does everything she can to avoid touching it. It’s not so much a germ thing, but a texture thing. She has lots of weird little quirks about texture and raw chicken seems to be the one that bugs (see #1) the most.

7. I tried not believing in God for a while. I wasn’t very good at it and never really stopped. My parents were great role models of faith, but the pastor and the church I grew up in was not and I nearly tossed the baby out with the bathwater.  It seems we all see hypocrisy all around religion and the church buildings folks gather in to practice their religion. I was no exception.

One day my good friend Rob was talking about how as he got older he trusted doctors less and less because he realized they were just human beings, and might make mistakes. As a kid he assumed they were infalible. For whatever reason, I realized that religion was the same, and the failure of people to adaquately reflect authentic spirituallity, was no true reflection of God.  It was a simple epiphany that most folks are smart enough to get from the beginning, but it was enough to bring me back toward a relationship. I would not try to have a relationship with jenn by basing it on what others told me about her. The only way is to go to the source. I am still a seeker. Seeking is the blood of the proof.  I get help from authors like Don Miller, Frederick Buechner, Madeline L’Engle, and Rob Bell. I just finished Rob Bell’s “Jesus Wants to Save Christians” and loved it as Rob Bell has an uncanny knack of unpacking scripture and making the text more than just a series of ancient documents that don’t feel like they have any modern implications.

Thanksgiving has come and gone. Abraham Lincoln suggested we set the date aside to give thanks for the numerous blessings we have. Even in the face of a civil war, he understood what we had to be grateful for, and was wise enough to see that we were already starting to take for granted our blessings.

Wednesday we went climbing at Sinks Canyon in Lander.  The simple joy of climbing in the sun on a beautiful day, enjoying good company and introducing a new climber (Zack) to climbing outdoors!

Thursday we spent the whole day just sitting around in the big chair at Josh and Lauras place above the Outdoor Shop. We ate wonderful food prepared by Laura, including some homemade icecream on jenn’s contribution of pumpkin cheesecake. We talked and laughed. At home later, away from the din, i had time to reflect and give a silent word of thanks for the fact that 10 people can gather for a meal and not only be filled, but have leftovers. That we complain about eating leftovers seems quite selfish and I wonder what old Abe Lincoln would say to us now.

Friday it was back to work. There I read the story of the Walmart worker getting trampled to death in New York by eager shoppers on Black Friday. It was a black day indeed, and I wonder why we continue to think this kind of behavior is okay.  We don’t take time to think about much of anything it seems, we just continue in our lifestyle of want without so much as a second glance at what it is doing to the rest of the world, and ultimately, what it is doing to our souls.

And now it is saturday morning and jenn just brought me a bisquit with egg and sausage and pepperjack and refilled my coffee.  The sun is shining and the snow on the mountains glimmers an impossible white.  It is a glorious morning and jenn is chatting with patrons at the coffee shop and making people feel special (as she always does). Now it is off to work for me.  We work jobs that we enjoy and I honestly feel guilty whenever work seems less than good. There are folks out there working three jobs that they hate in order to pay the bills. We are more blessed than most. I am endlessly thankful.

Make good decisions. Live well. Be well.

It was about 2 years ago right now that Jenn and I were getting ready to move out of our apartment. We were looking for jobs, interviewing, wondering what was coming. Now we are in Wyoming and we would never trade the last two years for any amount of money or security. Looking back, i put together a gallery  from that time period complete with a summary of the story in both pictures and words. Take a look HERE and click on “Best of the Road”. Enjoy. But more than enjoy. Go!

In fact, we hope to go for a ski tour this Thursday up at Elkhart park… we shall see.

I voted. My candidate won. It mattered, but it is not about me.

Two climbers died in the Red River Gorge. I had seen them around, but did not know them. It matters, but it is not about me.

For the first time since I started voting, my candidate won and I felt my vote mattered. I am not talking about Obama (though that is true as well), but on a local election between a pro-development and drilling conservative and a slightly less conservative (there are no liberals in Wyoming, only levels of conservatism) candidate who supports slower and steadier growth and opportunities other than oil/gas exploration. My candidate, Jim Roscoe, won by 4 votes. Yep, 4 votes. I have never felt my vote mattered more. Jenn and I both voted for Jim, and though he would have won without our votes, it was the first time i really felt i was involved in the democratic process. It felt good to know i was a part of the community decision making process.

On the national level, I voted for Obama. Wyoming went Red of course, and my county was 75% McCain. I am convinced Obama is the man for the job. I hope more now than I have ever before. Our country needs hope. Change will be affected by this hope. If we stop hoping, we can not possibly change or grow.

Back in Kentucky, two climbers died and all of a sudden all the bickering over politics and bail-outs seems so silly. I hope for my friends who are hurting over the loss of those close to them. In this time of loss, it is good to see how people of different walks of life and political beliefs come together, even if the gravity of the situation is more weight than they care to bear. We are creatures built to be in community and when that community is shaken, life seems a bit out-of-wack. Especially during election time when right vs. left and conservative vs. liberal only seeks to divide, it does me good to see the need for us all to come together. I am reminded of Frederick Buechners words:

“Your life and my life flow into each other as wave flows into wave, and unless there is peace and joy and freedom for you, there can be no real peace or joy or freedom for me. To see reality–not as we expect it to be but as it is–is to see that unless we live for each other and in and through each other, we do not really live very satisfactorily; that there can really be life only where there really is, in just this sense, love.”

Amen Freddy B.

And now winter descends on Wyoming. Snow is forecast. We are tuning up our skis.  I can’t wait to sink into some turns, hear the quiet hiss of snow pushed out of the way as I find the gentle rythmn of turns through a stash of backcountry powder. I will forget the loss for a moment, and gravity will feel less grave.

Josh came up to me at the climbing wall on Tuesday and told me he had a proposition for me, and the only answer could be yes. He wanted to head in to the Winds at Big Sandy, hike the 5 miles to the lake, climb up Schiestler Peak and the traverse the ridge over to Temple.  His coworker John would be coming along as well. I accepted gladly, with my only reservation being my knee was still a bit out of whack from Fremont back in August.

We met at the Great Outdoor Shop at 4am and were at the Big Sandy trailhead and hiking by 6am.  Hiking by headlamp, we encountered a little snow on the trail and very few footprints. The dawn came in hues of lavendar and then pink as we turned off our lamps. We took a short break to filter water and fuel up at Big Sandy Lake and then started the climb up Schiestler. The North Summit showed us a great view all the way to Temple, some 3 more miles of ridgeline away! Technical difficulties were minimal, but the snow and ice on the ridge made the going slow. We had to rappell a couple times and negotiate a few 4th class steps in the ridge.

It was a beautiful day, with temps starting out in the teens and eventually warming to around 50. We were blessed with a mostly windless day as well. Still, after reaching A Cheval peak, we encountered difficulties on the ridge leading to Temple in the form of a large gendarme that forced a turnaround. My knee was throbbing and I was slowing down, so I was already in the process of bailing.

So for the second time, I faced bailing off into trailless terrain on the west side of Temple. The going was better this timee as it was beautiful late fall weather and I wasn’t suffering altitude sickness. I decided on a direct bushwack to the trail while the Josh and John traversed back around to Big Sandy lake to grab some gear they’d cached there. It was a fun hike down to Big Sandy creek and to the trail. I trudged along, trying to make the trailhead before dark and only had to turn my headlamp on for the last half mile. The others arrived a short 20 minutes later and we were back in Pinedale by 9pm.

Temple seems to have my number, but this attempt, though cut short in nearly the same spot as before, was a bit more promising! Someday.

mid way on the traverse toward Temple