stumped

I love trees. I guess you could say I am in ‘tree hugger’ so to speak. Not just in the “stop the bush national forest give away” way, but literally. I hug trees. When I was little I would get distracted from yard work because I was hugging the trees in the yard. I was worried if I skipped one, I would hurt its feelings. As I have previously posted on another blog, when I left Alaska I hugged the trees good bye and I could see my sad face reflecting in their sap.

For a little history, when I was growing up I named all the trees in our yard. I stood sadly by the stumps of Wilma and George the cherry trees when they were cut down and even longer by Tom’s, their son, when he followed. I remember talking to the twin tree-bushes who had some stupid rhyming names like Whinnie and Minnie or something. (Try to remember I was like 10.) And it was almost more than I could bear when my parents cut down Elmo, the over grown weed tree. I was the best advocate the line of Paradise Trees in our yard could have ever asked for, and even now if any of them have to be cut down, my dad puts his arm around me and lets me down gently saying, “now, there is a logical reason why this one has to go.” Still to this day when I go home I greet the maple trees in our front yard with a kiss. They are dear old friends to me. Some people have been frightened by my talking to plants and trees, others embrace it. But, none the less, my name means “of the ash tree meadow” after all. And I have always thought the boy from the “Giving Tree” was a spoiled brat.

So if you are wondering why I am telling you this, there really isn’t a reason. Except for that I found this wonderful narrative about a tree in the book, “Endgame” by Derrick Jensen. I love tree tales, i love the one in Aldo Leopold’s book. This one is similar, not near as good and a little less known, but I thought I’d share it.

“… I thought of a 500 year old oak I saw in New York City, on a slope overlooking the Hudson River. I thought of all that tree had experienced. As an acorn it fell in an ancient forest….It germinated in this diverse community, witnessed runs of fish up the Hudson so great they threatened to carry away the nets of those who would catch them, witnessed human communities living in these forests, the humans not depleting the forests, but rather enhancing them by their very presence, by what they gave back to their home. I witnessed the arrival of civilization, the building of a village, a town, a city, a metropolis….Along the way the tree said good-bye to the wood bison, the passenger pigeon, the Eskimo curlew, the great American chestnuts, the wolverines who paced the shores of the Hudson. It said good-bye (at least for now) to humans living traditional ways. It said good-bye to the neighboring trees, to the forest where its life began. It witnessed the laying down of billions of tons of concrete, the erection of rigid steel structures and brick buildings topped with razor wire.
Unfortunately, it did not live long enough to witness all of this come back down. The tree, I learned last year, is no more. It was cut down by a landowner worried that its branches would fall on his roof. Environmentalists—doing what we seem to do best—gathered to say prayers over its stump.”

Nothing “stumps” me more than why someone would cut down any tree for a slab of concrete. And I can’t wait to hear the ‘sappy’ puns in your comments.

This last week I had a wonderful discovery. I was awoken by Todd listening to NPR in the kitchen. The topic was hot trends in times of economic woe. They were discussing everything from what people eat to their taste in music when haad tymes come around. But the part that drew me from my bed was the discussion on the changing trend in what was “hip” for women during these times. The woman was saying that when the economy plummets, girls start wearing their hair shorter and men are drawn more to women with small eyes and less curvy bodies. The idea is that they want someone who looks more grown up, serious, and “masculine” so to speak that will make them feel secure when money gets tight. They even went as far as to say that the playboy bunny becomes a bit more... “straight-ish”. So my friends, guess who just got hot?

You guessed it. I always knew my squinty eyes and 12 year old boy body would get me far someday! It was a long and painful wait, but todd you at last have the trophy wife you always wanted! So as far as I’m concerned, down with the economy!

26. a year of firsts. a marathon and a massage.

Well, it happened. and we didn't die. which is what i thought might happen. it was my first and todd's third.
this is around mile 22. notice i am staggering in the background. we had some helpful encouragement at this point. thanks guys! todd's family and jez and sara kept us going. unfortunately my family couldn't make it. my mom was making crafts with my sister in tooele for super saturday. i was hoping they would have a hand painted "good job" at the finish line, but maybe next year.
jez titled this picture "pumping up the jam." that was all i could muster.
now this is fun. this picture and the one below it is a little contrast between todd's last marathon and this one. creepishly you can hardly tell todd is the same person. he has just changed so darn much.

and the theatrical finish. not todd's best marathon time, but i think the greatest accomplishment is that he somehow stayed with me the entire race. overall it was a great time. i was expecting it to be a little more dramatic, like more runner's trotting and what not. we had a few classic annoying people yelling out motivational one liners like "who owns this marathon?? the people in bed? no we do!" it reminded me of when i worked at wendy's and our manager would yell out while flipping hamburgers.. "Quality is my speed limit!" so. actually we were surprisingly happy the whole time. i kept thinking that at some point i would just wish it was over. that came around about mile 24, but for the most part there was no where else i could think of that i would rather be. i just wanted to experience every step of it. so for all of you who are considering one, if i can do it, so can you. and to all of you who were my inspiration, thanks! it was awesome!

Why Tri?

Just todd looking out his office window. Another hard day of work. ( i bet that is a fun work joke that circulates around these kinds of jobs and just never gets old...)

a strange thing occurred on saturday. my little sister aubri was signed up to do a triathlon but found out she had a cross country meet the same day. so she called and asked if i would take her place. the night before i decided what the heck and decided to do it. i didn't want anyone to know who i was at the meet in case i was really bad. i drove sara's car, wore todd's helmet, and raced under the alias of aubri mcswain. if any of you ever decide to tri one, practice swimming.

infintiy miles per hour

well, it has been a long while. maybe for the better. but i was thinking yesterday as i rode my bike what a different planet it was from a bikes view versus a cars. i really started riding a bike a lot my last year in college when i totaled my car (the spirit) on the way home from logan. that day stands out so vivid in my head... mare driving by in shock while i stood by the concrete wall on the high way, reaching out to touch the spirit one last time before it got towed but just missing it as they pulled it away, taking all the costumes out of the back at the dump yard(the elf ears, the mexican dress). and suddenly my college experience and my relationship with logan changed. todd lent me team fuji, a bike creed had given him. i rode that bike everywhere. i learned things about logan i had never noticed before. every hill and road had more meaning. the road in front of old main hill, the steep one down to the island, the distance between 2nd and 3rd dam, it all meant more. i planned around riding my bike, choosing stores and banks that were closer. i learned to carry snow cones and italian sodas while talking on the phone. it was great. one thing i learned was how much more personal the world is from a bikes view. i remember riding team fuj to school one cold day and seeing a cigarette still burning orange and smoking on the road. it was so personal and nostalgic. and now that we have pulled out the bikes again, salt lake city is becoming personal too. when i go down a street i notice the houses, the trees, the smell of the flowers and lavender bushes. i can spy on people in their houses and smell what they are having for dinner. i've found little nooks i would have just passed by in the car. but the best and most personal part is the people we pass. i can hear weird conversations in cars. i have awkward moments waiting at lights with other bikers. i hear them yell out when they think they might get hit by a car. i get flipped off. and when i do i can see the anger coming right out of their eyes. and the high light is that we saw a personal trainer and an awkward girl running with weights. i would have never gotten to see their faces that good from a car. so it is all quite fun.

on a different note, i would like to do a thing called "no more pun". i love puns as much as the next human, but there are a few out there that need to stop. these are puns that have lost the fun. the first one is: "wok and roll". fun when it first came out, but now... no more pun. too many asian cuisines have drained the goodness out of this once punny pun.

and i almost stepped on a rattlesnake.

oh, and as for the title, infinity miles per hour. maybe wild bri could model his t shirt on the ravens nest or something. just an idea.

arrested development

yup. that pretty much sums up our progression. but here is a photographic gallery to summerize our point.

and finally. the final out come. all professional ready for work. can't be *misbe'shavin'!
Another fun thing is that i got to go to the unitas last week with todd! a strange man took this picture for us and emailed it to us after we gave him our email via a little hand held recorder.
basically i helped todd "erase the trace" all week. we hiked a lot of trails, cleared fire rings, and talked to boy scouts about Leave No Trace. This is the contraversal t shirt alina designed and gave to me that i wore as my ... dang it i can't remember the word. not costume, but as the thing i wore to work in. anyway, if you can think of the word let me know. i think it starts with a 'p'. but the main thing is, look close and see if you can figure out why it is contraversal. we will take a vote.

it's hard to know what is blog worthy these days, but i think we will all agree that todd's beard has made the cuts. ever since i went short, he has gone long beyond what i have ever dreamed. it is to the point of double takes from men in stores. the picture hardly gives it justice, considering we haven't bought a camera yet and we are still using photo booth for all of our pictures.

other than the beard, we are just existing. todd started his job and has been gone a lot which is a mix up from our peace corps routine of pretty much being together 24 hours a day. he left again this morning and is doing his first wilderness expedition in the grandydaddy basin. up until now he has just been training in duchesne and roosevelt mostly. so on his days off we tried to think of some exciting thing to do, but considering gas prices, we just spent most of our time going on runs and riding our bikes. last night we went on a little ride with creed that ended up being a 20 mile adventure. it was a little longer than we expected, but it was fun. i am back on the fuji right now, which some of you might be happy about because the twin schwin is in the shop. but it feels good to be reunited, and gilbert i haven't forgotten about the pump i owe you on campus that you won at the raffle.

other than that we have been spending a lot of time with family and friends which is fun, and we love you all!