Thunderstorm Musings

Well, what a fabulous day! It never ceases to amaze me how God seems to know just how to romance me. Yesterday was difficult for me. I missed Kyle so much and I didn't really feel like the day would ever end. But it did, and when I woke up this morning- wide awake at 6:45- I knew that today was going to kick yesterday's butt. :)

Brianna and I drove to Helen early this morning and made the trek up to the bottom of Anna Ruby Falls. We were walking so fast up the trail (which was steeper than I thought and ended up being a good little exercise) that this older couple who were on their way down starting cheering us on and said, "You girls must be in much better shape than us!" That made me giggle. When we got to the base of the falls, we sat down on the beautiful wooden benches that line the whole viewing area and just talked for an hour or so. There was a slight mist from the waterfall and we got to do some extreme people watching. There were the requisite moms who had taken their little ones on a day trip and then the families who were obviously on vacation (think camera bags, Hawaiian shirts and sunscreen) and then there were the fun ones (think 70 year old woman with the skin of a well worn saddle and heavily penciled in eyebrows wearing only a beach cover up which showed off her voluminous thighs). We even got a close up examination of many of these people because we became the resident family photographers for the entire tourist population. We just couldn't sit by and let people try to utilize the timers on their camera.

We finally decided to pack it up. Strangely enough, on the way back down we were told by another elderly couple to be careful going so fast. I quote: "Your feet might not keep up with your head and you'll (miming rolling down the mountain with his hands)..." I assured him we would be fine and kept power walking. We then ate lunch at my favorite place to eat a sandwich ever: The Market . Brianna commented on how I was a good decision maker because I ordered so quickly but I assured her that the only reason that was possible was the fact that I woke up dreaming of the chicken salad on veggie bread that I was going to eat. It's the only thing I've ever had there!

When we got back to my house, there was an email for each of us waiting from Kyle and Brett. Short emails, yes, but so encouraging. We hadn't heard anything from them personally since they have been gone and I was worried about actually getting an email... I'm not sure what I was worried about- maybe that he would feel pressured to write or that he was come across as being unhappy. But there was an abundance of smiley faces which made me giggle and I blushed twice while reading it. I read it over and over again and in some ways, it's nice to have gotten an email instead of a phone call because it lasts a little longer. But I miss hearing his voice.

No matter how many ways I try to mold the amount of days left into different conglomerations, it always ends up seeming long. I mean, in weeks, days, fortnights- just long. Brianna definitely wins the prize for most creative idea: "Why don't we just count down the days left in June and then we'll count down the days in July when we get there?" The idea was sound: two smaller numbers instead of one bigger one. But I don't know about the whole starting a new countdown in July. But if we swing it her way, we have 15 more days in June and 23 more days in July.

Or.... they will be home in 38 days. Just simply being out of the forties is relieving. Forty five days sounded endless. But it isn't. And even though some days have dragged on, the sun continues to set. Every single gosh darn day, that thing dips back below the horizon and goes I don't even know where. And when I wake up, it's back and we start again. So, I have no great proof that tomorrow will be any different. Let me assure you- if the sun doesn't set tomorrow and the day lasts more than 24 hours, I will be sure to note it here. But somehow, I don't think that's going to happen. :) We'll see.