Adventure?

Day 19

First and foremost, happy Juneteenth. Juneteenth actually made my morning. I was driving to work, half asleep as usual as I pass the park, when I saw something out of the corner of my eye. Horses! Just, you know, hanging out. In the park. My jaw dropped. It was such a beautiful little picture that all of the surrounding preparations and chaos were lost to me. Just beautiful bays, coats shining, hangin' in the park. This scene was also like an old hallucanation of mine, one where there's a horse running next to my car, but whatever. My usual morning grumpiness was killed by that unexpected joyful moment.

Perhaps my early morning joy is what changed the rest of my day in interesting and adventurous ways. I agreed to be on the news for the Red Cross, tomorrow, at 8:40 in the morning. This is not the kind of thing I would normally go into willingly (the early time being a strong reason I would normally be unavailable), but today I said "sure, no problem." Perhaps ponies kill my brain cells. I have not ever been interviewed for the news before, especially not for the nonprofit I work for. Scary? yes. What's scarier is that I also agreed to another news appearence, for different health and safety programs...starting at 5:45 Monday morning. I have no idea how I am even going to make sense at 5:45. How am I going to wake up at 5:00? Is it possible to drive while mostly asleep? Will they notice if I start drooling?

Ugh. It's going to be bad. There's all kinds of things I am supposed to remember to talk about, and I'm going to forget. I won't just be nervous, I'm feeling a little closer to terrified. I just have to keep reminding myself that if I totally blow it, I won't have to do it again, I'll have tried, and only those particular insane known as "morning people" will see my failure. For the record, not that there's anything wrong with morning people, I just don't understand it. On the other hand, if I shine like a bright little star, I will have exceeded my own expectations and succeeded at something new.

So here goes nothing. Wish me luck!

Instead of writing

Instead of writing this weekend, Edmund and I went on adventures. On Saturday, we packed up and headed out to Round Mountain for Kevin and Jessie's wedding. Edmund officiated the ceremony, and so has been nervously awaiting the occasion.

Nothing went as planned. It was stupid hot. So hot that one bra may need to be washed twice to remove the inch-wide sweat stain I inflicted within five minutes on the ranch. Our lovely redecorated airstream did not have working air conditioning...or window coverings. Picture two sweat-slick people in a tin can with seven windows attempting to change into formal wear and not to flash the 50 or so wedding guests milling about just outside. If there's a badge for stealth costume changes, we totally deserve it.

All of the event staff got lost. The bartenders and the catering staff needed so much help that the ceremony was delayed by fifteen minutes, which is nothing really, unless 50 people are standing on a barren hilltop under the blazing sun for those extra fifteen minutes. At least we were all sporting sweat stains together.

Things always go wrong at weddings. I think everyone expects that, so all in all, I would have to say it went very well. It was a beautiful ceremony. Edmund wrote a fantastic, personal, tear-jerker of a wedding. If it wasn't so hot, I would have liked him to go slower...but he and the entire wedding party were wearing black suits. If he had taken his time, someone would have passed out from heat stroke. Kevin and Jessie wrote their own vows, and it was beautiful. Kevin whispered his vows to Jessie (literally), but everything we needed to know was written on their faces. Jessie's vows were beautiful. There were several points where I wasn't sure if I was wiping sweat or tears from my face.

It cooled off as the sun set, and we all enjoyed cold beer and tex mex under the emerging stars. It was a relaxed and sweet reception, and at the end of the night Edmund and I got fans for our airstream! Open windows plus fans made the tin can much more comfortable.

Today, we sweat it out some more loading up the p.a. system and all the wine from the reception into Edmund's vehicle. If you are planning an outdoor wedding in Texas in June, I would suggest not stocking wine, as no one is going to drink it in the sweltering heat.

We stopped at Krause Springs with most of the wedding party and swam ourselves "clean." It was a relaxing and easy Sunday, until we got home. We were both looking forward to our technologically advanced apartment (air conditioning!), but were instead blasted by 95 degree air when we opened the door. No air conditioning. Instead, a sweatbox and three pets all showing symptoms of heat-related illness. Open windows, fans, and coolers full of ice have so far reduced the temperature to 90 degrees.

After calling our landlords (who may or may not have someone out here to fix it tomorrow), we loaded Edward into the car and went for a drive. Edward was our biggest worry, so we spent two hours driving around with the air on full blast. We're both still watching him, but I think that we've cleared the worst. Tomorrow we'll restock the ice and I'll take him to work with me.

Neither Edmund nor I were strong enough to tough it out. Once Edward was cool, we stuffed icepacks in the couch, set up the open coolers full of ice and fans, and left. Terrible parents or not, we went to the movies. We sat in the cold dark theater and saw Up. It was great. I think, and Edmund has said that it was exactly what we needed. If you haven't seen it, stop wasting time and go. Pixar has wormed its way deep into my heart, and fully believe they will continue to wow me forever.

So...yeah. I didn't write this weekend. There were too many adventures.

June first...almost

June first was a writing failure, but I will not let that set the tone for the rest of the month. Let's get this ball rolling.

My intentions for June are not particularly creative, but therein lies the possibility. This month my goals are consistency, growth and adventure. Consistency is first. I want to write consistently. It's kind of the basis for this project, no surprises there. I want to write a quality submission every day. Simple.

Growth is just as obvious. I want to grow as a writer and a person. What other purpose is there to life?

I want this project to be an adventure. An opportunity to try new things, discover new styles and voices, to play with possibility.

These are my goals, and without any segue let's move on to the second part of this assignment. I'm no more a writer than any other person. I have a degree in literature with a minor in creative writing. I write driveling nonsense to myself in journals, and I once was a teenage girl (I've written poetry). I love young adult literature, comic books and sci fi and fantasty. I have no ambitions to publish.

I'm sorry I'm off to a poor start, but at least it leaves plenty of room for improvement.