Monday, August 30, 2010

Excerpts from the weekend

I went up to Jimmy and Missy's (along with the Powers family, Kelly, and, for a short time, David) to help work toward finishing the barn. I was a little upset to find David there--it was Thursday and he had said he wouldn't be coming up until late Friday night. He went back home that night though, as he had a job interview Friday.

I arrived in time for dinner Thurs, so we ate and then took a short trip into the cave that's finally open on their property. I wasn't feeling good though (physically), and I haven't done a good job of feeling okay around David, so it wasn't the best time of my life. I think I'll wait until more of the cave is accessible and I am healthier on all levels.

To backtrack a little, I didn't drive up Thursday morning with Kelly because I had a job interview that afternoon. It was for what basically amounted to after-school daycare. I realized that I cannot be a daycare worker. I just can't face it. I also parked next to a light pole in their parking lot, and hit it as I was backing out. The car is okay, with nothing worse than a slightly bent bumper, but for thirty minutes or so I was stuck on the pole and on the verge of tears. So that was good times. And then I pulled into the driveway in Highland County and saw David's car. It was just great. I did get to talk to Anna for a long time though on the drive, and the drive was really beautiful, so those were nice points.

Friday we worked on enclosing the hayloft of the barn. The walls have been up for a while, but they haven't extended all the way up to the roof. Now they do, though we left openings for doors in the center. I have done very little construction, but what I have done I have loved. It was nice to get into the rhythm of measuring, marking the angles, and cutting the boards. It was good work. Unfortunately I didn't take any pictures, but some other people did.

The next morning as I drove to Camp, a mist lay over the whole valley like a gauzy veil that extended upwards into infinity. I love the coolness of that morning air.

The retreat: I don't feel like typing it all out. There were some people I knew and a lot I didn't; I lead a caving trip with Kelly; we did a staff-talent-esque evening program with stories of "the good old days" interspersed. The older brother of one of my friends/former campers was there, and I have heard about him for years but had never met him. So that was cool. He seemed like a pretty cool guy.

It turns out that I have a lot of anger toward David, and I pretty much stayed away from him all weekend. My throat constricts when I start thinking about him, so it was pretty much either avoid him or make myself unable to function. I think I might have hurt his feelings though. I don't quite know how I feel about that. Some combination of sadness and violence, I'm sure.

On Sunday shortly before I left, I stepped out of the dining hall and was utterly undeservedly stung in the face by what appeared to be a petulant, childish wasp. I don't know what I could have done to attract her ire beyond possibly stepping into her path, but she flew into my face, stung me just below my left eye, and flew away. Thanks to some ice, meat tenderizer, tylenol, and an immune system that (usually) knows a nonissue when it sees one, the sting isn't too bad. It's a little red and very slightly swollen, and it's begun to itch a little today, but clearly it could have been a lot worse.

2 comments:

  1. barn building makes me think about and yearn to live like in little house on the prairie. sometimes i actually have dreams about that, lol

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  2. Those sound like some awesome dreams.

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