Ever since I landed in the Southeast two years ago, I've been pretty blown away by how much I've seen, lived, and grown down here. I was just driving home from the grocery store and looking back on my OWN 2011, and it was a pretty crazy ride when you get right down to it.
So here it is! 2011 in a nutshell. Get ready. Buckle up. Make some tea. There's a lot of stuff here.
JANUARY
The year started off with a quiet New Year's Celebration at the beach house. We had a few people over and a few people dropping in on their travels through the area and their travels to Return Staff Training in Yulee.
Return Staff Training was a cold affair that started on the St. Mary's River and ended with a workshop in Linda W's living room. At this point, I had two courses left on my contract with Outward Bound and I was starting to get a little bit concernicus with my own stamina, as a four-day expedition in the cold took its toll on me. I was tired and I wasn't bouncing back as easily as I had in the past. I went for a walk with our staffing manager and let her know that I had two courses left in the tank and then it was probably time for a change.
But I settled in for my last few days in Fernandina, enjoying the warm January sun and life on the beach before heading out on course.
New Year's Day: This turtle was crossing the street out front of our house. The first turtle I ever saw out here came when I led my first course. It was a baby that had just hatched. Now I see them everywhere and I've recently learned more about what the turtle symbolizes: longevity, wisdom, patience, and protection.
Sand on the beach
Waves on the beach
I grew up in the Northwest, which has what I like to think of as "dramatic beauty." This is stuff like mountain ranges, huge forests, rivers and waterfalls. I think there is something to be said for the "subtle beauty" of the South. One of the best examples of this is the grass growing in the sand dunes at the beach.
The surf in the winter
And so I headed down to Scottsmoor to start my first course of the year, F386 with Dave and Eric. It was kind of a tough time for me, realizing that I'm suddenly one of the more senior staff in this organization coincided directly with my own mentors moving on. I didn't like that one bit, as these are people who inspire me and challenge me. I didn't want to be without them. But I put on my "big girl pants" and went out to lead probably the poopiest (literally, we dealt with a lot of poop on this one) course of my career. Before or since.
More turtles on the Ocklawaha river. We made it a game with our students to "Count Reptiles." I don't remember the final tally exactly, but it was something crazy like 87 turtles and 28 alligators.
Dave in one of his "Is this really my life?" moments
This is the biggest alligator I have ever seen, in the wild or in captivity
My hilarious co-instructors. We wouldn't let the team leave the oyster bar where we were eating lunch until we got the perfect shot of the three of us. It was on this course that the "Instructor Action Shot" was born. We would do it a LOT on the next one.
FEBRUARY
At the end of F386, I had the opportunity to close out my contract early. I hadn't been entirely pleased with how the course had gone and didn't want to potentially end my career on that note, so I opted to finish out my last course, in the Everglades, exactly one year after my epic glades course. 386 ended with a successful group of graduated students, as well as a Lord of the Rings marathon during follow-up. It was wonderful. And then I headed back to the beaches of Fernandina and New Smyrna to play with friends and soak up some absolutely wonderful time with people I love down here.
Shelbert on the beach
Sunrise
Saying goodbye to a friend. John came to stay at the house for a week or so, cooking us delicious meals and cashing in his 24-hour date with me that he bought at the All-Staff auction. And then he was off to a new job in Maine.
MARCH
The first week of March rolled around and I had to pry myself away from the comforts of home and friends. As I drove down to Key Largo, I definitely had the feeling of kicking myself for not ending my contract when I had the chance. But I went on to lead my final course, which was full of beautiful weather, tough but rewarding experiences with students, a few crazy stories that you'll have to ask me about later, and so much instructor fun that I thought I might pee my pants most days.
Christa watching the sun set in the Everglades
My instructional team on the beach at Highland. I have never had a co-instructor who was shorter than me.
More CLAP
I suffered an injury on course that led to a medicated follow-up. It rendered me useless and to this day, I still apologize to my co-instructors and Amy A for it.
APRIL
We finished the course right around April 15. I would be prepping for Glades training at this time, but I had bowed out due to the injury. It was really disappointing to me because I had been waiting for about six months to be a Glades trainer. My consolation prize was pretty great though. Instead of being eaten alive by the April Everglades Mosquitos, I came home to find Phil, Caitlin and Craig chatting in the living room, and two adorable puppies running straight for me, so excited to meet me.
Sunday and Nugget. They were found on the side of the road while I was on course and Kristin brought them home. Craig and Caitlin had decided to register them and foster them until owners could be found. So as roommates, we got the bonus of just having puppies around to play with all the time.
They quickly took to playing with (biting the face of) Shelbert. And the three of them would run around on the deck all afternoon.
Once Amy finished Glades Training, I traded in beach time for mountain time and headed up to her family's cabin with Sue, Dan, Dani, and Amy. We spent the next few days soaking in the sweet spring air, paddling down the Nantahala River, going on walks, and drinking lots of wine. And so began my best few weeks in recent memory.
The Nantahala
Amy and Dan on a walk. Notice the beer in Dan's back pocket.
Spring leaves.
My betrothed
The mountains
Sue and me getting ready to hit the river after a stop, probably for some water (whiskey, really)
April was definitely my best month this year. It was when I was at my pinnacle of happiness. My phone was off for most of it and I split my time between North Carolina and New Smyrna. It was the first big stretch of time I had had in two years to truly relax, not even think about my next course, and spend time with some people that I love a lot. I would have moments though, sitting on the back porch, drinking beer (or Capri Sun), looking up at the stars, and realizing that it wouldn't last. I would feel a great deal of sadness with this realization, and then Joanna would tell me to "be present." If I was worried about the future, I would surely miss all the great things about the present.
MAY
May came way too quickly. If I had my way, I would have hit the pause button on April and stayed there forever. But in the beginning of May, there was an ominous feeling around Fernandina Beach. For one thing, the fate of the STEP base was hanging in the air and we were waiting to see if the Florida Department of Juvenile Justice was going to keep it running as a prevention program. On another front, there was a handful of people that were about to move on from Outward Bound, and it was difficult to think about them leaving. And then there was the fact that I was slightly unsure if I was going to have a job or a place to live when I came back from Adventures Cross Country. And on top of ALL of this, the Okefenokee Swamp was on fire, so it was literally like the world was burning down around us. The sky was orange and there was ash on the cars in the driveway. And the predicted rapture, or "end of days" was just a few days away.
My roommates and I dissected the current situation and realized that what was happening in the swamp was a metaphor for what was happening in our lives. Swamp fires are necessary, and when they happen, new growth sprouts up. I think we all knew, however optimistic we were on the outside, that the base was going to close. To look on the bright side of it, we could see that this whole situation was an opportunity for new growth for us and this organization. It's just awful to endure the fire.
I left Fernandina a few days later to go up to the Outer Banks of North Carolina for a Sea Kayaking Training with the North Carolina Outward Bound School. I was not pleased about leaving, but I knew it was a good opportunity for me professionally.
It turned out that the training was just what I needed at that time. The wilderness worked its magic again, giving me a break from the real world and allowing me to see the Outer Banks the way they should be seen. They were absolutely gorgeous.
K-Shon and myself on the third day
Photo by K-Shon
Photo by K-Shon
I love those southern clouds
Sand dunes at sunset
Storm clouds rolling in
The Kayaks on the ferry back to the mainland.
The wake from the ferry.
There's another picture here where I'm smiling. This one reminds me of the scowl I used to have as a toddler.
This picture was taken just across the bay from Okracoke. This place is notorious for shipwrecks, and as we were cooking dinner (and moving our crap to higher ground to avoid the rising tide) we watched a sailboat coming in the channel. It bottomed out and started getting rocked by the waves. Eventually the force of the rocking was too much for the mast, which snapped in half. We turned on the radio and listened to them hail the coast guard and listened to the huge list of formalities and safety procedures that the Coast Guard is required to go through. The captain of the ship eventually got fed up and called a private company to tow him back to Ocracoke. By the time we alpine started the next morning, they were still working on cutting the mast off so they could tow it in.
Okcracoke, for you history/pirate buffs, is the site where Blackbeard was captured. Legend has it that they decapitated him before throwing him overboard, and even after THAT he still swam around the ship three times. That's badass.
Big ole Danforth Anchor
Making the early morning crossing to Okracoke
The boats on the ferry. We were the last ones allowed on, right after the Canadian bicyclists who so generously helped us carry the boats on. Canadians are great.
On the drive home, I went by this house and just had to take some pictures.
My dreamcatcher, courtesy of Amy Higgins. This thing goes with me everywhere I do, including around the world later in the summer.
Back home, I had a few days to pack up my life for my uncertain future before heading to Alabama for New Staff Training. I'll never forget leaving the STEP base in tears. The combination of my future, the future of the base, and this feeling of everything ending had just broken my spirit a bit. All I really wanted to do was get back in the field, where I knew what to do and things made sense. And so I went out on the New Staff Training in Alabama to train a fresh batch of instructors.
The trainees cooling off in the water, listening to lesson time with Boston. Then a snake came and freaked everyone out.
Dave's navigation brief
JUNE
Once NST ended, we hung out in the newly air-conditioned upstairs of the Five Rivers Base, ate as much Colossal Berry Crunch as we could manage, and watched "Easy A" over and over again until my roommates came to pick me up for our epic road trip out west. Dan, Kristin, and Caitlin arrived in Alabama on June 7, and we left on the 8th. Dan was getting ready to start his new job in Oregon, Kristin and I were heading out to work for Adventures Cross Country for the summer. And Caitlin was just along for the ride.
We saw this sign right outside of the Biscuit King Fun Barn (yes, it's an actual place and yes their biscuits are delicious. Also, there are Shania Twain posters EVERYWHERE in there) and couldn't help ourselves.
30 minutes later, Maggie dropped us off at the auto repair while we waited for them to finish up with Kristin's car. Note Thermazilla, Kristin's arch enemy.
Dan and Kristin in the back seat
June 10 was my 27th birthday and we spent it at the Grand Canyon. We drove 18 hours the day before to get there, from Austin TX. It was a huge haul to get there. I was really excited because midnight hit in New Mexico so it was my birthday. Then we crossed over into Arizona and we were back in the 11:00 hour. I had to wait for time to catch up...and then it was my birthday again! We got into the Canyon about 45 minutes before sunrise, just in time for a tiny nap, and then we got to watch the sun come up over the canyon. It was a wonderful birthday.
A few weeks earlier, Dan and I had been swimming in the ocean, freaking out about our uncertain futures. We had decided that the most practical thing to do would be to get married and so we began to plan our lives together. This all culminated in the proposal at the Grand Canyon around 8:00 a.m. It was adorable because people got out of their RVs and started applauding, saying "Well done, young man!"
Sun salutation
What a way to ring in the next year of a life
Best birthday ever.
We rolled into Pasadena to stay with Kristin's sister, went out to dinner at a Tibetan restaurant, and had a night in to recover from our huge push the day before.
Kristin en route to Mill Valley
Landscape
The next day we drove into Yosemite, with a quick stop at the Midpines base to pick up our friend Alisa, who was instructing there for the summer.
The day was bittersweet, because we said goodbye to Dan. He and Alisa spent a few days in Yosemite and then he continued on to Oregon to start his new job.
Meanwhile, Liz, Kristin and I started staff training for Adventures Cross country at Mt. Tam for a week. After it was over, Liz and I went exploring.
A few days before I left for Australia and Fiji, I headed into San Francisco to see my old friend and roommate, Dom. On the ferry ride over, I tearfully finished the final "Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants" Book (It's really good, don't mock me) and took pictures of the beautiful summer day in the city by the bay.
JULY
I then slingshot myself across the globe with 17 high school kids from the U.S. and Canada and my co-leader Mike. Exactly a week after San Francisco, I found myself in another famous Bay:
The Opera House in Sydney
The birds at Manly Beach
The Great Barrier Reef
Sunset in Fiji
AUGUST
It was about halfway through my Fiji trip that I had a chance to check my email and find that I had an urgent one asking me if I would be willing to lead a course in Alabama about 4 days after I got back in the States. I missed working with at-risk kids like crazy and I was going to be working with some awesome people so I immediately said yes. I debriefed my ARCC trip in California on Monday, August 1, flew out that night and arrived in Florida in the morning of August 2. It was wonderful to be home. All my roommates were in the field or Southeast Asia, so I enjoyed the peace and quiet, if only for a few days. I made sure to go see the new Harry Potter movie during this time, and then I was in Alabama on Friday morning, August 5, briefing for course. I was still extremely jet-lagged and readjusting to the oppressive heat of the south. I am happy to say though, that I did NOT vomit on this course during all the readjusting. That's pretty uncommon for me.
Our little kiddos (12-13 yr. olds!) paddling the Connecuh. Our kids surprised us time and time again on this course. They were tough and motivated and we added 35 miles to their schedule before solo and just pushed the snot out of them. They did awesome.
They named themselves the Tryseraduks. Sort of like a strange Triceratops/Duck hybrid, neither of which were spelled correctly when combined.
Overall, it was a hugely successful, feel-good course and I was beyond elated to be back in the field. I had had a grand total of about 6 days off of work since May and I just wanted to go back out in the field. My next course wouldn't be for another couple weeks, so I tried to chill out and relax during that time.
SEPTEMBER
I wouldn't really call my time off "relaxing." I went on a solo and did a lot of writing and thinking, I went up to North Carolina to play and go to a vets training at NCOBS, and then headed over to Alabama. Kristin and I spent so much time together during all of this that we were essentially morphing into the same person and so it was with a bit of a heavy heart that I went back out into the field, as it was the first time in weeks that we had been separated.
We went out for 8 days on the Mobile/Tensaw rivers with local kids from Baldwin County on an Intercept course. It was co-ed, with kids all over the place personality-wise and maturity-wise, so it was a real brain exercise to figure out a structure that would work for everyone in such a short amount of time. It was wonderful.
I had awesome co's as well.
OCTOBER
After my Impact course, I had two days to get from Fairhope, AL to Scottsmoor, FL. Why I ever said yes to this was beyond me at the time. Little did I know I was about to head into the most fun month of my life and run my best course ever. I'm so glad I said yes.
It started out rough, with some absolutely terrible weather that slammed us and every other team in the field at the time. Once the storm passed, however, we were left with our six rock-star girls, who were so tough from enduring the rain and wind for six days. We set up a solid course, laughed our butts off for the next two weeks, and just enjoyed central Florida in the fall.
The Sisterhood of the Traveling Plants
It's rough. As you can see, the earth's gravitational pull had shifted that day, so we were being pulled in a slightly diagonal way. Our students behind us couldn't even paddle!
The Souljas of Sass...paddling with Dolphins.
The day after we got out of the field, I was on a plane for the Northwest to see my best friend get married.
Dramatic beauty: Mt. Hood, OR
My bestie since we were five years old
Katie's bouquet was made of broaches that family friends had sent her. I had been on course and picked up pink shells off of the beach to send her. I told her that I had no idea how she could incorporate them into the bouquet, but that I knew she would figure something out. I had forgotten what a crafty, creative genius Katie is. She assembled them into a flower.
Katie and Luke. I love this picture because I can still distinctly remember the moment I met the two of them, 22 years ago. And now here they are as adults.
Mt. Rainer over Olympia
This is where I grew up. Sigh.
NOVEMBER
The 11th month found me back in Florida, celebrating "No Work November." I ended up working a little bit: Finishing up course at the very beginning of the month, going on a river visit in Alabama in the middle of the month and prepping for Glades training at the end. I think I worked a total of 7 days this month. It was fantastic. The rest of the time was spent reading, writing, knitting, going for walks, and just relaxing for the first time in a while.
Subtle beauty
Moonrise (that's right: MOONrise) at the beach
Shelbert and Sunday
As you can see, Sunday has grown up in the last six months. We found a home for Nugget back in the late spring, but held onto Sunday. I used Thanksgiving week wisely and trained the crap out of her, going for at least 8 miles of walks every day and getting her to be more well behaved. It was great bonding time for us.
DECEMBER
Paddling in the Everglades
In the end, 2011 was a crazy, amazing, tough year. I started this year with the same goals as I usually do: to make it even more awesome than the year before. I had some great courses, I traveled a TON, I made it through some tough transitions, and I got some good pictures out of it.
I'd call that success.
Here's to 2012. And may it be even more awesome than 2011.
"Just moments, one after another..."
