Spring Break to DC

Spring Break from grad school this year saw me flying across the country to visit Washington, DC. I'd never been to the east coast before and with several friends that I needed to see in a similar location and the ski season in Montana in sorry shape, it seemed like a great plan to me. Overall: amazing trip, incredible adventure, and more love from friends than I deserve.

Highlights of the trip: 

• Baltimore: Ft. McHenry, Inner Harbor, Edgar Allen Poe's house and gravesite, Charm City Circulator!
• Church and picnic lunch with my best friend Alex, seeing his cousin David and D's wife Kara
• Meeting new friends: Liz, Laura, Mark, Grandpa Dick, and Gma Annie
• Overview of DC: metro riding, Air and Space museum, old Post Office and Federal Triangle, Georgetown Cupcakes and University (priority in that order...)
• Lazy summer day in Annapolis, sea food lunch (first time having oysters!)
• Smash and grab tour of DC monuments: spent all day walking around covering a lot of ground and checking off a list of monuments and museums; Natural Hist. museum, Amer. Hist. Museum, Korea, WWI, WWII, Lincoln, Jefferson, Korea, Vietnam, Pentagon, Arlington Cemetery, and more!
• Navigating the Metro to catch an early morning flight home and losing my driver's license, if you are nice enough TSA takes pity on you and you can get through security without it...wouldn't recommend the stress though!
• Breakfast in Minneapolis with another high school bestie: Tim. Lorax pancakes at IHOP are highly recommended. 

Picture highlights are below. Hope you enjoy!

Goofing off at the Ft. McHenry National Monument.

Leaning against the supporting beam for the original American flag that flew over the Fort during the War of 1812 and inspiring Francis Scott Key's "Star Spangled Banner." That was especially cool since I'm taking a Foundation Engineering class this semester: perfect for Geeking Out!

Hanging out in Baltimore with some good food and good friends. Funny how often that combination seems to happen. I was so fortunate to be able to catch up with ACU friends like David, Abby, Bonni, and Marc.

At the cemetery where Edgar Allen Poe was originally buried. This is a slab of rock that was featured on Ripley's "Believe It or Not". 

Sunday afternoon picnic-guitar-frisbee-convo session with my High School bestie Alex and his girlfriend Susan. I feel very fortunate to not only be able to see old friends but be able to share their lives with them. I even got to go to work with Alex one day during the week.

Cliche photo waiting for the train into DC to come. 

Washington monument in the background, we are hanging out in the bell tower of the old DC post office. Alex is on the far right with his friends Mark, Liz, and Laura. Mark and Alex met Liz and Laura in Georgia while on a road trip promoting MANA. I lucked out and got to meet them while they were up visiting DC on their Spring Break. 

Washington Monument. Welcome to 'Merica, 'nuff said.

We tried to visit Barack, but he was regrettably out of town watching an NCAA basketball tournament in Ohio. Oh well, at least I got to see his white house. 

Arlington National Cemetery at the eternal flame. I hadn't realized it was burning at the grave site of JFK and his family. 

Tomb of the unknown soldier from WWII and beyond. We timed if perfectly (coincidence really) to see the changing of the guard on the hour. Impressive coordination and for me a really interesting site. I couldn't help but see parallels between this and the monument of the unknown god at Mars Hill in Athens back in the day. 

All of the states are represented like this at the WWII monument. Funny story: a guy walks up while we're taking this picture and asks me where I'm from. Me, being the naive honest person that I am, replied "Montana." That's apparently not what he wanted. Turns out he was from Libby and wanted to know where in Montana I was from. Well, he should have asked that from the beginning if he was going to get all huffy!

The new Martin Luther King, Jr. monument. It's huge, and you have to walk through a channel to get to the statue of him, it's supposed to be as if he is cut out from another section of rock and slid forward. The caption is something like, "Out of the mountain of despair, comes a rock of hope...". We were there right at sunset: it was beautiful! And to top it off we got to hear a touring college singing group sing a beautiful acapela song.

Hanging with my buddy Tommy. The ultimate Renaissance Man 

Ski Season Pics and Stories

Especially compared with last season, which was banner by all accounts, this winter has not been the epic ski period that I pictured in my life. That's probably not a bad thing while in my first year in graduate school, my mind can focus on books and not be wandering in the mountains (too much). It's also been fun to dabble in some other activities: I've picked up hockey, been skate skiing quite a bit, and getting out climbing ice whenever I can. However, that being said, I have had some really fine days in the mountains, with good company and smooth turns. Here are some pictures of the highlights...so far! 

(There have been other amazing days as well with equally amazing people and dogs. Either I didn't have my camera with me or chose not to document the trip due to poor lighting, poor snow, or I was just being lazy.)

Great day at Moonlight skiing with ACU college friends!

Dad and my new cousin Paul on the top of Alberta Peak
at Wolf Creek Pass ski resort in Colorado.

My buddy Brett and I tried to wrestle a snow mobile up
the Jewel Basin road to get in some backcountry turns but
the road was a sheet of ice. We couldn't even get the sled
up the road! Ski trip fail...

A beautiful day on Mt. Ellis with Brett and the powder
hound Mayble.

Fellow "earn your turn junkees" Brett, Dominique, and
Master Blaster (MB) in Hyalite Canyon.

MB at the top of a couloir in an undisclosed location in
Hyalite Canyon.

Another backcountry buddy Chris shredding yet another
Hyalite couloir.

MB leading the way up a steep, narrow, powder filled
couloir I dubbed "Benign Cancer". (Look up Terminal
Cancer...) Very fun to ski!

A rad day at Big Sky actually riding the lifts, what a
concept! Friends Brett, Kirk, me, and ACU buddy Brad.

Dabbling in Poetry

I've written a couple of poems recently, one from a prompt and one for a friendly contest (one that I didn't win, mind you). My skills as a poet need improvement, but I'll publish them below for your amusement.

Patterns
I lose myself in patterns.
The shrillness of my alarm
   wakens me to a world of light.
A desire for food moves me to
   break my night long fast.
Off to work in attempts to
   produce for my boss.
Home means dinner, relaxation,
   some time alone.
My pillow brings me dreams of
   someday breaking free from repetition.
Yet I lose myself in the patterns which
   tie me to a comfortable life.

(untitled)
Very often I find myself
   Poised at the edge of a cliff.
The desire to fly, falling through
   Nothing, feeling the wind in my face is overpowering.
Why do I long to castoff from the
   Rock that supports my feet?
I seek things that i do not understand,
   Enjoyments and pleasures that do me harm.
It hurts others when I jump from the
   Cliff over and over again.
I can see the pain in his eyes now.
All too often I find myself
   Creeping to the edge of a cliff
   Holding a parachute filled with holes.