buffalo gap

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Ah. I love camping. I really need to get out and camp more often. I spent Thanksgiving Break in Buffalo Gap National Grassland, an area of wide open prairies, bordering the South Dakotan Badlands. It was beautiful. Wide horizons, blue skies, golden grasses. I really want to come back in the spring and see it when everything is green. Here's a brief synposis of my trip.

What I saw: 2 coyotes, 4 hawks, 4 pronghorn antelope, 7 somethings (probably antelope, but they were too far away to be certain), 2 rabbits, 3 other birds, and hundreds of prairie dogs, expansive vistas, the badlands formations, grasses, forbs, yucca, junipers, a dry creek bed, the milky way

What I heard: lots of coyotes, some owls, wind, silence, prairie dog alarm calls, a couple of planes

What I felt: bitter wind, warm sunshine, warmth from a cow chip fire, sore feet and shoulders

What I smelt: pretty much nothing

What I tasted: ramen, lipton's instant thai noodles, whole wheat bagels with fresh havarti cheese, raw tender bits, nature valley crunchy granola bars, instant oatmeal

Unfortunately, I left behind my 35mm camera due to weight considerations, so I couldn't get any decent photos of the animals that I saw, but I did take quite a few shots of the scenery. Here's a few. If you want to see shots of some of the flora, visit biophilia.

Squash night!

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This Friday night was squash night. I'm not even sure how we came upon the idea, but Ellen and I both love squash/pumpkin soup. So we decided, hey, let's make some! Besides Creamy Pumpkin Soup, we had several other squash related dishes, as well as a few non-squash dishes: Cranberry Apple Acorn Squash, Steamed Asparagus with Walnuts and Browned Butter Sauce, Pumpkin with Peas, Pumpkin Pie, Pumpkin Bars, Hot Spiced Cider, and Fresh Hot Rolls. I usually cook by the recipe, at least the first time that I make something, and it was pretty much the first time for all of these. Keri, on the other hand, the creator of the pumpkin and peas, pretty much just threw some ingredients together and created a new dish (no recipe available). I told Keri, I normally don't get into a cooking mood, but when I do, I like to go all out. So I tried to. I think most things turned out all right, thanks to all the help I had in the kitchen. Although, I forgot to salt and pepper the acorn squash before I baked it, so the apple cranberry filling was good, but the squash left a little bit to be desired. Oops. Apparently I started to look a little stressed as we got closer to supper time and things (namely the pumpkin for the pumkin soup) weren't ready yet. But, appearances can be deceiving, since I wasn't technically stressed out, just trying to think about 6 things at a time. Anyways, the only slightly stressful moment was when the pumpkin soup flowed out of the pot and onto the stove. But we still had plenty of soup left to eat. Overall, I think it turned out well. Maybe I should get in these moods more often . . .

10 kilometers = 6.21371192 miles

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This past Sunday (not today, a week ago), Katie, Mel, and I ran 6.21371192 miles, give or take a few 100ths of a mile. CABL sponsored a 10K run, so we decided to do it just for fun. It wasn't too difficult, so while we ran, I helped Mel study for her Chrisitan Beliefs test. It was kind of funny, running and trying to look at a bouncing blurry review sheet at the same time, while inventing mnemonics involving frisbees, snowfall and churches. Apparently she did pretty good on her test though, so it must have helped at least a little. My knees haven't been bothering me for quite a while either, which is nice, so I'm thinking about maybe running the half-marathon this spring. Who knows. (In the second picture below, no one else is around us, because they had already left. We were just running for the camera's sake; and the orange ribbon around Katie's neck is the marker at the halfway point. We thought we were the last one's passing it, so we figured we might as well take it).

Fall!

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I love fall. I love trying to snatch leaves out of the air as they swirl down from the trees. I love that the air is crisp and I can wear my hat and mittens. I love that it means the snow is coming soon. And I love making a big pile of leaves and playing in it with friends. You might not be able to tell from the pictures, but the pile was huge. It was almost as tall as Melanie by the time we were done. And we didn't even have a rake. Just a broom, a couple of bags, and a tennis racket or two. I think we must have spent almost as much time making the pile as we did playing in it, but that was half the fun. I'm pretty sure people were looking at us kind of funny as we were running and back and forth around campus carrying large leaf-filled bags over our heads. But whatever. We did convince a few of the people who passed by to join us for a while though.

The last picture makes me think of a bunch of Greek gods and goddesses with their leafy halos. Except, I don't think I've even seen a picutre of Greek deity laughing so much.

boo!

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Trick or Treat! I think the last time I went trick-or-treating was back in highschool, when I dressed up as Zoro. The last time Jon went trick-or-treating was . . . well, never. This was his first time. We got started a little late, so we didn't get a whole lot. And then we had to split it seven ways or so, so we got even less, but we still had fun. We stopped by Keri's house, and found they were having their own little Hallowe'en party. After we were done, me and Jon and Jeremy went to Chipotles armed with a roll of aluminum foil to claim our free halloween burritos. Mmmm, I love Chipotles.

at the discotheque

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This was a fun night. I hadn't been skating in . . . oh, I don't know. A really long time. It would have been more fun, except they ran out of skates, so a bunch of the guys couldn't skate. It was still pretty fun though. Limbo, crack-the-whip, train, and all of the other good skating games. Except for tag. We never played tag. We'll have to play when we go ice-skating. Of course, the 70s theme was just a bonus.

Dogbert's New Ruling Class

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In his whenever-I-feel-like-writing-it newsletter, Scott Adams has a rather humorous take on the blogger mentality. Not that I completely agree, of course, but it's pretty funny nonetheless.

The Dilbert Newsletter

N 40° 37.166 W 096° 38.278

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Went geocaching Wednesday night. First time, though I've wanted to go for a while. It was very fun. We searched for quite a while before we found them, because our GPS wasn't all that accurate, but half the fun is trying to find it once you've gotten to the right area. The first one was pretty accessible though it took us a while to find. To get to the second one, we walked through field and forest and got soaking wet, only to find out on the way back that there was a trail straight to it, about hundred feet to our right. Ah well, it was more fun getting dirty and wet.

there and back again

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While some people stayed here at Union College and spent some quality time on with their beds, some of us decided to drive 20 hours to Pennsylvania for a wedding. We left Wednesday night. Half an hour into the trip, Tony was pulled over for going "about 7 or 8 over." Fortunately, he was able to talk his way out of it, with lines like, "Well, you can't catch all the fish in the pond." The rest of the trip went pretty smoothly though. Well, except for the time that Jon stalled the car in the gas station, or the time he stalled it at the stoplight, or the time he stalled it at the tollboth . . .

We drove straight through the night, and the next afternoon decided not to stop until we got to Lance's house. Then we decided to stop at Ellen's place for the night. Then we decided not to stop at Ellen's. Then we actually talked to Ellen and decided we weren't going to Lance's we were going to Ellen's.

We spent the night there, watched Robots, and went 4-wheeling. Some of us got our shoe stolen and buried by Max, while others of us endured bovine feces and Amish farmers.

The rest of the time, we stayed at Lance's, thanks to his and his parents' generosity. It was nice to see Lance and Sophie for a bit, though things were kind of busy. The outdoor wedding was, of course beautiful, and the reception was exceptional. Of course, I may be prejudiced because all the bridesmaids were in purple (or lavender, if you must). It was a pretty small wedding which was nice, and I felt very privileged to be on the shortlist. Still, the weekend was ideal, and kind of what I think a wedding weekend should be. Friends and family gathered all around to show their support and just be with the couple.

A dance or two, some great cheesecake, several rewinds, and 40 hours of driving later and it's back to class again . . . for now.

pillars and picnics

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Went to a Pioneers today for a picnic. It was pretty fun. We didn't do a whole lot except sit around and hang out, although a few did some crazy climbing. I love being able to just sit around and hang out with a bunch of friends, without having to worry about a thing. What a great feeling.

on rock, rock on!

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So this weekend was my first experience in actual rock-climbing. I've climbed on a climbing wall once or twice, but it was nothing like the real thing. It was exhilirating though, clinging to the rock, trying to hold on. I didn't do any really difficult climbs, but it was still a lot of fun. So was swimming in the very cold, very dirty river. I think my favorite moment of the weekend though, was the first night, climbing up on the towers of rock, and just sitting under the night sky and listening to the water beneath me. Ah . . . it's in that kind of moment that I see God and when my heart wants to burst with joy.

bon echo

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This summer I went on a canoe trip to Bon Echo Provincial Park in Ontario, with Allison, David, and Caroline. We didn't spend very long there, only about a day and a half, but it was beautiful. The water was clear and refreshing and the sun was bright. Most of the time. Our first night on the lake, the sky transformed from clear and sunny to pouring rain and can't-see-five-feet-in-front-of-the-canoe fog in about fifteen minutes. We thought about fighting it, but decided to take shelter on shore until it passed. We got drenched, but it was fairly warm. We made camp in a little clearing in the woods that night, where we set up David's voluminous eight man tent. We explored, went swimming, had supper, and slept. The next day, we slept in, or woke up early and contemplated the sun rising, wandered the woods, did some bouldering and canoed back. Short but sweet.