Sunday, March 25, 2007

Quick March in Missoula

"Outrageous! Totally ridiculous! Completely absurd!!!" Thus are the best descriptions of how fast time is flying right now. March came and went in an instant, and the excitement is only beginning. Spring time in these parts means the field season is starting at work coupled with long days and beckoning mountains once work is over. Migrating birds are starting to come through, green grass is peeking up through the dried remains from last year, and the warmth is getting everyone jazzed to be outside.

Mary came out for a visit and we had a brilliant time hanging out with friends, hiking, skiing, and soaking in hot springs. Before that I went climbing with Brett at Kootenai Creek and took my first lead fall, which was very scary and reminded me to warm up to climbing before launching into it too fast and hard. In better news, I finally discovered Mt Sentinel, which is the perfect after-work workout mountain, and finally pulled my moto out of winter storage, which brings me much joy and fuel efficiency. Next week I transfer to the Lolo National Forest and will begin working with the public around here in earnest. I can't wait...

Wednesday, March 14, 2007

March Madness

March has come in fast and strong! On March 1st, I met up with Diane and her sister for a philosopy lecture on campus about how the concepts of conservative and liberal have been hijacked in our contemporary vernacular by the pundits. On the 2nd, I zoomed to Seatac airport and caught a flight to Park City, where the boys meet up to play every spring at Jon and Aimee's house. We all had an amazing weekend of Utah powder, sunshine, and downright nitty gritty good times.

On Monday, the 5th, I flew back to Seattle in the AM, picked up my coworker who flew in from Alaska, and we drove down to the Mt. St. Helens area (Randle, WA) for a week-long training on the banks of the Cispus River. Met a bunch of great folks, learned a lot, and got to hang out with some friends from DC. When training was over, on the 9th, I drove back up to Sea-town just in time for happy hour with Stephen and his colleagues in capitol hill.

So, it was a wonderful weekend in Seattle. A bunch of us got together at the Rendez-vous lounge and celebrated Mary's birthday on Friday, went shopping with Suzie downtown on Saturday (good men's clothes are hard to come by in Missoula), and enjoyed some of my favorite thai food, in the U district with Stephen on Sunday, before driving back to Missoula...

Ahhhh.... It's been a whirlwind, and more is on the way, with changing jobs and duty stations (I'm only going across town). Seattle is so much fun, and I dearly miss all my good friends there, but Missoula deserves some serious attention for a while, because it's just that awesome.