Our first official snow in Vermont, and Atlas’s first snow ever. When I took him out for our lunchtime walk he was a little unsure at first. He sniffed at everything, ate it, licked it, shook it off, and dug his body deep into several layers before he started barking at it. Despite the look on his face (1 minute in), he had a great time playing in the white stuff.
One of my favorite non-profits in Cambodia, Mith Samlanh “Friends”, is running a fundraiser to secure the future of their amazing programs. The organization reaches out to approximately 20,000 children living and working on the streets of Phnom Penh, and was recently faced with the possibility of eviction from its main center. In order to pay off a $2.5 million dollar loan they took to purchase the center, they’ve kicked off a very creative campaign: buy a brick to build their future.
I became well acquainted with Mith Samlanh during my time in Cambodia, as I was a regular visitor to two of their vocational restaurants: Friends and Romdeng. Both are entirely run by former street kids – the cooks, the managers, the wait-staff, etc. And the food is fantastic. At any rate, when I heard of the campaign, I immediately shared it with several of my close friends. Ben was the first to step up to the challenge, and for his first donation to charity in a long time, he amazingly and immediately plunked down the funds to “buy a brick”. I’m honored that he dedicated half of that brick to me, and it made my day today when he sent along a photograph of the brick with my name on it.
Thank you Ben, for the dedication, and especially for the street kids who have hope because of Mith Samlanh. If you or anyone you know is interested in supporting this wonderful organization, please visit their campaign webpage.
Poor Atlas. I thought I was doing him a favor by having his baby hair clipped this morning. It’s been over 7 months since he was born, and his 5 inch + long hair drags everywhere, snags on things, and has recently made him itchy.
When I told the shop to clip him, I said just a 1-inch trim. What they thought I meant was 1 inches away from his body! I almost didn’t recognize him when I picked him up. He looks more poodle like than ever, his hair is short and curly, and his sad retriever eyes are poking out of his head, not shaded by long facial hair.
I know it will grow back, but I still can’t get over how silly he looks and how unhappy he is with his new "do". Poor guy.
I tried something different this past weekend: staying put [in the area in which I physically live]. I honestly can’t visualize the last time I was in town for the weekend, and I guess that makes sense because I’ve been traveling non-stop for the past 10+ weeks, and even before that, my weekends in the Southern Vermont area have been few and far between. I took advantage of friends in nearby towns or beautiful places I’d always wanted to visit. I’ve had a lot of trouble exploring the space right underneath my nose.
I think part of it is because I thought I might be terribly bored, or maybe that it would remind me of the fact that I’m up here without the same kind of community I had in Washington, D.C. Most notably, admitting I don’t have a social life whatsoever beyond hikes with Atlas, yoga, and trips to the Co-op.
Well I’m happy to report that this past weekend was none of those things. It went surprisingly well. From a visit to the monthly Gallery Walk in downtown Brattleboro on Friday night with Ben, Rachel, and Wendy (where I ran into half of my office colleagues), to my first experience contra dancing at the Guiding Star Grange in Greenfield on Saturday night. Finishing off the weekend was a hike through the vast dog park with Alejandra and Atlas on Sunday, some excellent Korean food in NoHo, and the requisite visit to Trader Joe’s in Hadley. I even took in a beautiful sunset in my own backyard. Not at all a bad weekend.
Although it’s been extremely easy to enjoy the beauty that is Vermont, it’s been hard rectifying the fact that my home and life are in two places at once right now. I know I ultimately have to return to Washington, D.C. – to figure out my next steps and to familiarize myself with the international development side of my organization – but it’s been increasingly tempting to delay that as long as possible. I’m not sure if the stress of figuring out if I want to relocate permanently not or the utter idea of packing up my stuff is paralyzing me, or if I’m concerned that when I get back to Washington, my lack of social life will be ever the more obvious because I’m in a city where things are constantly happening.
I think I underestimate what is possible in both places, so hopefully I’m in store for more pleasant surprises, and if I can stay in Vermont for the winter, I could hit up Killington every weekend if I wanted…. So tempting.
Decisions don’t need to be made tonight, or even in the next week, so for now I’ll do my best to finally let myself feel what it’s like to “live” here, rather than just “work” here.
This past weekend a long-time dream of mine came true – and if you weren’t already aware of my roller coaster geekiness, you have now been warned.
Ever since I was a little kid I was fascinated by roller coasters. Don’t get me wrong – I was terrified by them – but I was also amazed at those huge structures towering over I-94 at Great America in Gurnee, Illinois. It would make or break family vacations if my brother and I weren’t able to see those rides in the distance. Just knowing they were there was a comfort; like a constant in life, you could always count on them.
Built upon a bad experience on a kiddie coaster when I was five, my fear continued well into my adolescence, though it was more of an obsession. Even though I wouldn’t step foot on any of the coasters at Great America, I collected old video tapes of Vincent Price narrating video footage of the best coasters in the country, and jumped at the chance to catch any Discovery channel special on these mega structures. It was only when I went to the park with my friend Kerry’s parents when I was 12, that I finally had the courage to try the experience out for myself. In my head I justified the move with the fact that her parents were riding along with us – if they could do it, then obviously it wasn’t that dangerous. Also in my mind I think I was under the impression that they could protect me if something malfunctioned.
At any rate, I went on the Shockwave coaster, the then scariest coaster in the park, and was absolutely hooked on the speed, sensation, and architecture of these fantastic structures.
So hooked in fact that my undergraduate thesis was themed after this passion. My CD-ROM “The Evolution of Roller Coasters in America” looked at the history of US coasters and the potential for new technologies in the future. Through much of my research in roller coaster news groups and list servs, I discovered the mecca of all roller coaster meccas: Cedar Point. A large amusement park sitting on a peninsula surrounded by Lake Eerie, in the middle of Ohio- where every new coaster breaks a record, and people drive from miles around to take in the impressive cadre of 16+ high-quality coasters.
Since I wrote my thesis in 1999, I’ve wanted to visit this park. But being in the middle of Ohio, and far from anything else, it became more of a dream rather than any sort of potential reality. Yet over the years friends of mine, many basing their visits on my suggestions, found their way to the park, only to report that it was even more amazing than I had expressed to them.
Last weekend I left the country. And boy was I due. It’s been since April that I last left this country’s boundaries, and the itch to do so began this Past June. It also hasn’t helped that one of my managers has been planning trips to Uganda and Kenya – hanging out in the very haunts where I used to live. So when I became friends with Amy, and we finally met in August – it was a perfect opportunity to schedule an “international” weekend and Flickr meet-up all at once.
We met in Montreal – a nice sort-of halfway point between Vermont and Kingston, ON – and of course not a bad locale to photograph! Amy setup a reservation at a small B & B in a great location, and we planned an entire weekend of photographing and eating – two of our favorite things. The weather started off pretty crummy on Friday night, but eased into an absolutely gorgeous weekend with warm weather and beautiful sunshine.
Driving across the border from Vermont was surreal. I’ve never driven through a border crossing before, and the one into QC was definitely notable. The radio stations all turned to French 5 miles away, the landscaped changed immediately after the border station – from wide, well-crafted highways, to bumpy Canadian back roads – and every sign transformed from English to French. It was fun because I studied French for several years in high school and college, but also a strange feeling to have this experience without even getting on an airplane. I squinted to keep track of my speed in the KM wheel on my speedometer and tried to take in as much scenery as I could in the pouring rain and darkening sky.
The past four weeks have come and gone like a total whirlwind. I can’t believe it’s mid-October already. From Dori’s wedding in Boston, to my weekend in Northampton with Kerry, Courtney, and Ryan, my travel schedule has been full. On the off-weekends, Dori and Justin came to visit and explore some of the beauty a Vermont fall has to offer, and my mom made a last-minute breeze-through this past weekend so we could take photographic advantage of one of the more peak foliage weekends here. It’s all been a lot of fun, but I’m not surprised I feel as tired as I do.
And there is no time to rest! I’m heading to Montreal this weekend to meet up with Amy again, this time on her home turf. We’re packing lots of photographic equipment, our yoga gear, and maybe even something risque for the nightclub on a skyscraper. Next weekend is Hallow-fest at Cedar Point, an amusement park I’ve been wanting to see since I was in college – I just only wish Jenny was going to make it out to join us :o). The list continues on into mid-November, when hopefully I’ll have a bit of a respite. This lifestyle is certainly addictive, and Atlas is becoming quite the pro at playing car co-pilot.
Here are mini-descriptions of the past weekend’s activities (and some photos to accompany them):
Last weekend I had the honor of attending the wedding reception of Dorothy [formerly Metz] and Justin Parmelee. Dori and I have known each other since we went to high school together and have stayed close over the years – from being roommates the year after I graduated college to staying in touch regardless of where we’ve lived. This summer has been especially fun as my stint in Vermont (and its subsequent proximity to Boston) has enabled us to spend more together and rediscover our friendship. I’ve also spent a lot of time getting to know Justin over the years and beyond being a great guy (fellow techno/photog nerd), Dori is just nuts about him. :o)
The reception was held in Salem, Massachusetts at Finz Restaurant, and was simple, yet elegant. Despite a bit of a challenge orchestrating the bus and its wedding passengers from Boston harbor to Salem, the evening went off without a hitch, and lots of fun and good food were had by all.
I recently picked up a new Canon DSLR – the 40D – and got it just in time for the reception. I was hoping to get some great shots, though was willing to accept a bit of a learning curve as I played around with the new camera. The lighting conditions were also really tough as it was during the evening and the lens I brought with me wasn’t fast enough to use without a flash. For the most part I’m happy with the “moments” I’ve captured, though much less happy with the grain that comes with 1600 ISO and the effects of the in-camera flash on people’s skin (both no-nos for good portraiture). The color in all the images just seems off. I’m hoping to clean up a few that I deem acceptable to share with Dori and Justin, but I definitely have learned something from this occasion – I will *always* carry around my 50mm 1.8 when I need to shoot indoors. My 24-105 F4 was not a great choice, even though it’s my best lens. I just figured it was a safe bet if I was only going to carry one lens with me. Next time I’ll know better.
My 29th birthday came and went with much celebration and well wishes from family and friends. I don’t think I could have felt more loved if I tried. Be it the many messages on Facebook, emails and birthday cards, thoughtful gifts, and sweet phone calls/messages, my day truly was complete. Thanks to all of you.
Thanks also to Natalie, Alejandra, Jessica, and Mel for coming out last night and celebrating my first birthday in Brattleboro. Wine was plentiful and the pasta was perfect. It was also a nice surprise that the weather warmed up enough for us to sit outside.
I can sort of believe it, turning 29 and all, but it does feel a little bit odd too. I’m not intimidated by growing old or nervous that I haven’t accomplished enough already. On the contrary, I’m pretty satisfied with my life and everything I’ve done so far. But the number “29″ does seem a bit, “older” sounding than say, 28 :o).
In my parents’ generation, people were settled, married, with children, and well on their way through adulthood by now. And several of my friends have already taken those paths. My path has been unintentionally different, but I wouldn’t say any less full or in my opinion, any less desirable.
I can say that several of my dreams have come true in terms of profession and life experience, that I’ve had residency in two countries on two different continents, and that I’ve seen more of the world than most people will in a lifetime. I have an amazing group of friends and family living in all reaches of the glove who support me in everything I do. I’m also overly grateful and happy with my life, who I’ve been as I’ve grown up, and who I’ve become now and continue to evolve into. Which I think counts for a lot in this wacky, unpredictable world.
I definitely feel like an adult, though I’m happily pleased with my immature tendencies to be silly, do playful things like take a weekend to travel to Cedar Point to ride repeatedly on roller coasters, or jet off to Qatar to meet up with an old friend. I’ve got it pretty good, there’s no doubt.
Last year this time I was waking up to no water in my house in Kenya, and a business trip to Uganda. I celebrated with Bell’s beers and Indian food in a tiny restaurant in Mbale. The year before I was in Cambodia with newly discovered friends, sharing Cambodian tapas at the Friends restaurant. It’s weird being back in the United States again, but also still being far away from where most of my friends live due to my work stint in Vermont. I have no doubt that the day will be memorable, however, with a sack of heirloom tomatoes on my desk from Alejandra, a homemade card from Meg, and dinner and drinks with some people at a local bistro, I’d say the day is just about perfect. Here’s hoping that the next year will follow suit with even more unexpected and wonderful things.
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