Wrapping Up

Wrapping Up #1: At the end of last week, we were visited by a very distraught little boy who had fallen off a ladder at camp and broke his arm in two places. Fortunately, he recovered quickly (as little boys are apt to do) once we stabilized his arm in a temporary cast (and gave him some stickers and narcotics). Then, on Friday, he returned for the full cast, and I had the pleasure of wrapping him up:




First, we put on the "white sock" to protect his arm. Next, we started applying the super-cool wet 'n harden cast material (in super-cool green, of course)




And then, voila! The bravest cowboy in Big Sky was ready to once again roam with the deer and the buffalo, with seldom a discouraging word.


Wrapping Up #2: As some of you may know, I have a strange wire sculpturing talent that emerged out of nowhere when, as a precocious tween living in a condo in Lakewood NJ back in the early '90s, I managed to convince the guys working in the dirt behind our house to give me a 3-foot length of colorful fiber optic telephone wire that they were going to toss anyway - and discovered that I had an uncanny ability to twist and wrap individual wires into little wire people. My first piece was a 3-club juggler, and from time to time over the last, oh 15ish years (has it been that long really??) I've slowly worked away at that original wire stash, usually to make my trademark "namaste yogi(ni)" person. In anticipation of some extra free time in Big Sky, I brought a swath of the stuff out here with me, and over the last few days, made some gifts for Dr. Fritz (who loves her poodle), Brad (an avid mountain biker), and Jen (who did an Ironman triathlon!):










Rapping Up #3: Sunday dawned sunny in Big Sky, so I decided to tackle the renowned Beehive Basin hike. Same as the last hike up Mt. Washburn, I went at it alone, and same as the last hike, there was that slim but real chance of encountering a bear. So once again, I sported some bear spray, and tried to scamper up the crazy steep and crazy beautiful mountain (one of whose peaks has a series of spiral dark stripes that make it look not unlike a big rock version of a beehive) with enough volume to scare off whatever Smokey's and Yogi's happened to be in the area. So yes, at one point I resorted to some Eminem.



But mostly, the almost 3-hour hike over fault lines and through luscious wildflower fields (like this whole 3-week experience has done in general) gave me the opportunity to think and reflect, without the usual overstimulation of a cellphone, computer, wifi, or ipod. Or the noise pollution of cars. Or the visual/mental pollution of advertising. I don't know...I may be slowly turning into a country girl. Shocking for those who know how attached I am to my cell phone and computer, I know. But as much as I value constant connection to all of the people and projects in my life, I've realized here that it comes at a bit of an expense, in not giving me room for connection to myself, and more importantly, to the earth. We all talk about global warming, globalization, the global economy, etc - but how often do we really, truly remember that we neither own nor control the Earth. It's just a planet we've found ourselves on, and it's stunningly complex and beautiful, and...we're neither the first, the only, nor likely the last ones to live here. It's easy to forget about the earth of the Earth when we spend most of our lives suspended in concrete and steel above it, eating food products that bear little to no resemblance to the earth-grown/raised whole foods from which they are derived, and living largely intellectual, sedentary lives that bear little to no resemblance to those that our ancestors - who we can thank for evolving us these brains and bodies - lived. So...while I may not exactly be ready to trade in my MacBook and Corolla for a machete and canoe, I do want to make a commitment to better balance of my time between the hi-tech, new, world of information and mind - and more time in the low-tech, millenia-old, natural world of earth and body.