Quick Update

It's 7:44 AM here at Long Rifle Ranch and I am working on my second cup of coffee. With only about fifteen minutes of writing time before I need to get cracking on my day, I figured that maybe it's time for a little update. I've been flying below the radar a while and haven't been around a proper computer in weeks, so let me bring you up to date on where things are at this moment.

My 25 item check list of 'Things to do Before I Leave' has been fully completed. yay! Now, I have a new checklist of 'Things I Forgot to Put on My Old Checklist' which I am feverishly working at getting accomplished in the next six days. SIX DAYS! HOLY MACKEREL! Fetch me my inhaler and a stiff drink!

This past week was spent moving all of my belongings from my house in Curlew to my parent's place just an hour and a half away. I've grown to resent almost every item I own and plan on never acquiring anything new, extra, or unnecessary for as long as I live. Moving the piano was the hardest part- which reminds me... I need to swing by the chiropractor's office today.

Anxiety dreams are in full swing. I dreamt the other night that I was captured by a crew of creepy dudes. Needless to say, waking up in my own bed that next morning was a relief. The fact that I am female and traveling alone is becoming painfully clear as I inch towards leaving the safety of rural eastern Washington.

Oh, Jeez. Look at the time. I've gotta get going with chores. Stay tuned.

Room to Grow

Just recently, I found a blooming, yellow rose bush in my back yard. I happened to spy it out my small bathroom window. Busily brushing my teeth and getting ready for another work day, I peeked out the window and there it was: a secretive little bloomer almost completely choked out by some local weed-like bush. Without even thinking about it, I paused my tooth-brushing and let out a “ooooh” – the same sound a person utters when they see a newborn baby, or a clutch of freshly hatched chicks.

There’s something about yellow roses that make me nostalgic. They remind me of summer, they remind me of my mom’s garden back home, and the especially remind me of old homesteads. To be honest, I don’t think I’ve ever really seen an old homestead with blooming yellow roses, but, when I imagine a broken-down house from a hundred years ago, there’s always those buttery yellow roses in my mind too.

Anyway, back to the discovery in my yard.

It’s funny how once you find something that you never knew existed, you instantly become protective of it. Like a kid that finds a rusty old truck in the public sand box: discovered, immediately claimed as “mine” and then loved the whole ride home and, if really prized, slept with (filling the sheets with sand and bits of crumbling, rusty truck). So started my love for these roses: I found them, claimed them as my own (they ARE on my property after all) and, since I couldn’t drag it inside and sleep with it like the kid and his treasure, I went outside to hack that horrid weedy bush that had been trying to choke out my prized new bright buds.

Only when I had started hacking did I discover that the rose bush I had deemed ‘small’ actually filled more than three times what I thought did. The only reason why I hadn’t seen it before was because that flowering bush had intricately intertwined with the ever bothersome, most likely invasive, leafy monstrosity right next to it. Each thorny rose branch hugged the woody arms of the other plant, increasingly growing even more intimate with something that would inevitably choke the very life out of it- robbed of sunshine, nutrients, and with a lack of ‘room to grow’ my newly discovered prize had a slim chance of ever flourishing, or even surviving for that matter.

My dull clippers continued to pluck thick branches of the unidentified neighboring bush and, stem by stem, my happy rose revealed itself: a smattering of yellow buds that, for weeks now, craved sunshine and freedom. Little did I realize that with the necessary clipping of the enemy plant there came a lesson too. The more I trimmed their supportive stalk away and let the roses stand on their own, the more the roses sagged because its anemic little branches struggled to support the weight of heavy blossoms.

And so, my mind continued to draw small little connections with the rose’s scenario and my own life, the life of countless other people I know, and the hundreds, thousands, I dare say MILLIONS of others who- for one reason or another, grow in darkness, clinging to situations, people, jobs, habits that aren’t healthy for us- that choke joy and life out of us, but we’re too afraid to let go and stand on our own. We often hang on, growing intimately closer to the very source of our dysfunction, our discontent, and whatever else it is that hinders the development of who we are into who we were made to be.

Number 1 On My Top Ten List

Hello to all my Facebook friends who have come to see what #1 is. Thanks for putting up with my ridiculous antics =).





Here's Numero Uno:







Happy Friday, Everyone!

I Sold My Clothes for Laundry Soap

Have you ever typed in "Travel Accessories" in the search bar at Amazon.com?

Well, you're missing out my friend, because there's some pretty sweet stuff on there.

Like this:

Yep, that's right. 50 sheets of laundry soap for only $3! Now I can was my grimy clothing without schlepping around a gallon of Tide!...are you as excited as I am?

Okay, what about these sweet items I found:

You guessed it- a super-light travel towel and (since the artist residencies require that I bring my own bedding) a travel sheet. Cool, huh?

Okay, so I am becoming a travel nerd. Who cares?

Since I am only taking a small bag for my personal items, I have to try to fit as much as I can without going over the weight limit. That's why I've started searching through Amazon's Travel Accessories department for clearance items. Also, I've been scouring secondhand stores and used-clothing shops for light-weight clothing, accessories, etc. I don't have a lot of money to spend so I have to make every dollar stretch as far as I can, but that makes the hunt for items even more fun.

The other day when I was visiting my brother in Cheyenne, we went to the Sierra Trading Post outlet and I found these cool shoes for only $15- lightweight, versitile, practical, and did I mention only $15?

In order to afford a lot of this, I've sold almost 85% of my existing wardrobe to a consignment store and have received cash in return. Selling my clothes allows me to purchase these items that I would not have otherwise been able to buy. The consignment store employees know me pretty well now.They are always excited to see what I'm bringing in for sale and to hear how plans for the trip are going.

With less than a month to go, I'm starting to feel like things are finally coming together. Thanks again to all my supportive friends and family who have been nursing me (and this dream) along for more than a year!

Excitement

It is exactly one month before I leave. As excited as I am to paint and explore, I am just as excited to form new friendships, strengthen relationships with existing friends and family, and further develop as a creative human being.

One month, that's it.

Today, I decided to record myself to tell the world how thrilled I am to be only a month away from leaving... my video turned out the be a flop, however, because I ended up saying "This is my first attempt at taping myself" and what came out was "This is my first 'aush'" (aush?)Oh well...here it is anyway, enjoy. Happy Monday, Everyone!

Pass Me My Tiara

Sophomore year of high school is always an awkward year, but I believe that my year was more awkward than most. I’ve mentioned before that I never won the popularity contests as Inchelium, and my 10th grade year of school had its ups and downs for sure.

I had plenty of braces and zero sense of fashion. While other girls were busy doing their hair and wearing the latest trendy clothes, I’d show up to school with my bangs pinned to one side and some non-descript outfit from the closet. Obtaining fame as a fashionista was definitely out of the question.

Obtaining fame as a talented ball player was out of the question too. We had athletes in our school, skilled athletes that made the rest of our league’s best players look like a bunch of playground goobs. Unfortunately for me, I was not one of our school’s famed jocks.

I truly believe that everyone’s estimate of my athletic abilities was determined when (in the winter of my Sophomore year) I dribbled a basketball at break-neck speed from one end of the court to the other and made a fabulously stylish basket…in the wrong hoop. I didn’t realize that I had just scored for the other team until AFTER I did a little enthusiastic fist pump and dance of joy right there on the court. It felt so good to score, and so terrible to find out that I not only just added two points to the opposing team’s score but I also made a complete fool out of myself in front of my own hometown crowd.

Finally, seasons changed from Basketball to Spring and the school carnival loomed on the calendar. It was my classes’ turn to vote for who they wanted running for the famed Inchelium Carnival King and Queen position. I seriously don’t even really know what happened that day because somehow I was selected to run for queen with the uber-popular David Tonasket running for King. When it was announced that I, the epitome of awkwardness, was to try to win the title, my legs nearly gave out and I am pretty sure I had to go home early.

Weeks passed and I sold raffle tickets like hotcakes. (The couple who sells the most tickets wins the title). David sold tickets too, and if I remember correctly, I think his Mom did some selling as well (legit, I promise).

The night of the carnival arrived on time and I remember strolling in the school with a home-spun hairdo, a shiny purple gown, and a large manila envelope filled with tickets. A few hours later, the carnival drew to an end and the tickets were counted.

Summoned to center stage, David and I ascended the steps and stood with the freshman, junior, and senior couples who, just like us, had feverishly sold raffle tickets to poor unsuspecting community members for weeks.

Standing up there, in front of the carnival crowd, I decided to take a sneak peek at the coveted tiara that the winning queen would don after. My eyes saw it: a thing of beauty, a shiny collection of rhinestones and silver, it looked like it had been designed just for me. Just looking at it made me shake with sheer excitement- to think that I might get to wear it.

Finally, after many tense minutes of waiting, the head-ticket counter turned on the mic announced the winner:

“This year’s Inchelium Carnival King and Queen title goes to...”

_______________________________________

For weeks, I kept that tiara on the kitchen table. I’d look at it and remember the moment when the previous year’s Carnival Queen tried to calm me down enough to get the bobby-pins through my hair and placed the rhinestone encrusted prize on my head. Whether at breakfast, lunch, or dinner, I made sure that that crown stayed in sight.

Whenever things got too depressing or discouraging at the table, I’d look at my shiny jewel and remember that, for one moment, I was at the top. Recalling that moment made me want to put it on:

“Mom, could you pass me the pepper?
While you’re at it, please pass me my tiara.”

Baggage Claim

I got my luggage!

Juanita seems pleased with my hard-side rolling monster. This gigantic piece is earmarked for all of my art supplies.
The smaller carry on will tote all of my clothing and personal items.
I got them both at Ross for about $140- Not bad. Not bad at all.