Can you believe it? I sure can't. August means I've lived in Asheville for a whole year! August means my first year with AmeriCorps is completed! August means summer is drawing to an end soon! August means my dad's birthday, hot afternoons and rainy evenings, a new house and roommates and neighborhood, new AmeriCorps team, new job placement site... wow that's a lot of new things. August does seem to fall into the "new beginnings" section of the life index, doesn't it?
Well... here I am. Measuring time in abstract ways... like all the things I listed above. This week, true to my annual tradition, I moved. The house reminds me of ones in Denton- old, quirky, inherited from friends, filled with laughs and friends, in a neighborhood biking distance from everything I could dream of. A few weeks ago summer camp ended and my AmeriCorps team completed our year of service with a touching, sentimental graduation. I'm proud to say I played a song I wrote! And didn't make a total buffoon of myself when it was my turn to openly reflect about my year to about 80 people both familiar and unfamiliar. I also committed to a second year of AmeriCorps with Project POWER! Cross your fingers with me that I'm assigned to one of the school garden positions :)
This summer has been a whirlwind... hence my absence from blogland. But rest assured- my absences indicate a saturation of adventure and activity in my life. This summer's adventures included...
- assisting my roommate Xandy in catering 300 Cake Pop/ balls at a wedding
- a solo adventure to the Rainbow Gathering where I met some fellow Ashevillians
- a visit from Cheshire and Ashitaka!
- a trip to Washington DC to visit my brother Joel, Aunt JoAnne, cousin Cara, friend Amanda, and my adopted (Diane's) parents
- Summer camp (10 hour days... whew!) with middle school kiddos and amazing coworkers, which was life changing
- Frequent tube floats down the French Broad and Green Rivers
- Hikes to waterfalls!
- learning how to make a magical elixer to strengthen the liver using burdock (yay for self-guided herbalism studies!)
Until next time... :)
