I'm happy to report that I just got back, a little sunburned and a lot happy, from a campin
g trip with Murray, Badger and Gweedo on the coast of the Pacific. As soon as Gweedo gets home from work and I can snag his camera I'll add pictures to this post. It was a lot of great, mostly-wholesome fun involving shellfish, whales, forts, an overly-territorial seagull and more chicken than you can fit in a bucket (or a Dutch oven, for that matter). My life here's been pretty low-key lately and judging from the stories, California was probably the calmest part of the boys' so-far three-week drive across country, but at least for me the visit was magic soul medicine. I even got to talk to Court and Smitler on the phone, making it official: I'm homesick for you guys!!! Let these pictures serve as motivation to the rest of you who have tossed around the idea of migrating out here (either for visits or for life) and are still trying to decide. The midatlantic may have a lot of inner charm but there's no denying that the Pacific has the most bomb-ass view you've ever seen. The pictures really don't do it justice.
Ready to pack up the car yet? No? OK, well there's more...
In other news, my spirits are kinda up for a few reasons: 
1) (por supuesto) seeing Murray and Badger
2) it's spring! Spring is BEAUTIFUL here - flowers are popping out of everything and it's warm and once again I'm getting my hopes up about maybe growing a garden. It's a long shot since my backyard consists of gravel and concrete - not very arable - but there's still a part of me that's holding out for the possibility of a generous friend with a sweet patch of dirt.
3) I'm getting into the last few months of my VISTA placement and realizing that not only do I get to go out and find something else to do (Sweet!), but that I have gotten pretty much everything (education-wise, y'know, skills an' such) out of this placement that I was looking for. AND I also killed one Stafford loan, which is a sweet start to reclaiming my freedom from the bank. Now I get to start the process that VISTA calls "achieving sustainability," or working my way out of a job by training several other people to do the work I've made for myself... and then wishing them good luck as I make a really slick getaway. Some tell me that this would usually be called "bailing out" - however, AmeriCorps VISTA actually encourages this behavior and if you ask me, that's a good thing. This pseudo-government job feels entirely too much like work, and I'm not even working that hard, which I also feel guilty about. Whereas I usually work like a fiend because I love it, this year I've honestly worked only sorta hard and also killed a lot of time, so if I replace myself with 3 new people they will probably do like a 20x better job than the one I've been doing.
Don't know what's gonna be next yet, although I have been doing a lot of thinking about agriculture and nutrition (together) so I'm looking into related stuff. Whatever comes next, I want it to be something I'll work myself to death at and love the shit out of every minute. And also preferrably be able to travel. I dunno. Is that asking too much?
4) Reason #4 that I'm all giddy is that Gweedo and I are steadily approaching our 1-year anniversary on May 10! Can you believe it, kids? Gweedo likes to say we're "goin' for the record." LOL, I think he finds that funnier than I do, but hey. He's got a point. It is a record.
Well, anyway, here's to camping trips, mountain men, sweet patches of dirt, new horizons and broken records.
So much love to all you guys...
p.s. apologies for going a little crazy with the labels. i'm still kinda figuring out how to use them.
