Homesick

I was thinking about Montreal this evening, and I felt closer to tearing up about it than I have in a long time.  I was a little homesick; I hope I get to go back someday.  I wonder if that is at all related to how I felt yesterday while typing up a bunch of texts that I don't want to lose when I change my phone.  They had nothing to do with my mission, but they brought memories and melancholy for a specific part of my past; maybe those feelings are now extending to other parts of my history.  And I don't think it's bad to look back and miss things sometimes - just don't get stuck back there because there's a lot of good in the present and there are more memories to be created in the future.

Congrats, Bro!

My youngest brother got a job offer a few days ago.  So excited for him.  The only downside for me is that it will be the first time in six years since I have had no family around.  That's the way it goes, though, eh.

 

Sunday Evening Rain & The Frogs

Late afternoon we had this terrific storm.  At one point, there was a brilliant flash of lightning that was immediately followed by a loud clap of thunder that I think made me jump - or I at least came close to it.  It even hailed a little (hopefully not enough to damage my car).  Anyhow, after the storm and supper I asked my roommate if she wanted to go for a walk.  We live close to a normally dry riverbed, so we headed that direction to see if anything was in it.  We detoured a little when we got there to observe a temporary pond, where we could hear the frogs calling out.  Back on the walk and a ways down, we stopped on a bridge and watched the frogs do their thing down below - ah, nature, right? - for a little while.  It was humorous watching them kick along through the water.  Every-so-often we turned behind us to watch a rainbow, and we eventually could see it in a complete arc.  It was such a beautiful walk with the sunset, the cool, moist air, the line of clouds by some of our mountains, and the scent of wet plants blowing around us.  I'm glad we took the opportunity to enjoy some of God's creations this evening.  What a lovely end to a beautiful Sabbath.

4th of July

I got to go home for the 4th this year and spend it with most of my family.  It was really great even though we were pretty crowded.  I feel like all I'm doing this summer is traveling, sleeping, and reading - it's been so nice, but I know that it's going to be over soon, and then it will be back to work and more responsibility.

I am so grateful to live in the U.S.  I am frustrated with the recent Supreme Court ruling on the Affordable Healthcare Act, I don't understand why anyone still supports Pres. Obama, etc.  I think it's a testament to how inspired the Founding Fathers were when they set up our government the way they did because even with a cruddy economy, corrupt leaders, and way too much government, I still live pretty well, and I still have a lot of freedom.  I really need to use that freedom to actively work to uphold our Constitution and the things that our ancestors fought for.

Oh, and Happy Canada Day!

Books!

I have been pretty busy throughout my vacation so far - shameful, but I think I was working really hard and feeling so stressed at the end of the semester that it's felt really good to take a breather, albeit and extended, longer-than-I-should-allow-myself one.  So far I have read a couple of good books, and I am well into my third.

Dracula: the Bram Stoker one.  I enjoyed it; I've always had this thing for vampires (well before Twilight), but I have never read the original story.  One of my friends gave it to me as a gift quite awhile back, and I finally got around to reading it.  I have to admit that I'm glad that I read a lot of it while on vacation and sharing a room with my mom because it was a little creepy.  But it was also full of brave characters and good conquering evil and gender stereotypes from the time, which I also liked.

Sorcery & Cecelia: or The Enchanted Chocolate Pot, by Patricia Wrede and Caroline Stevermer.  Juvenile fiction.  It was a very quick read (I could have easily kept reading all the way through, but I finally made myself go to bed and split it into a couple of days).  The story is written as letters between two cousins in Victorian England times.  I learned after reading it that it seems the authors wrote the book as a game.  They wrote actual letters to each other - one as one character, the other as the other, I believe.  And they didn't talk plot hardly at all, which sounds neat.  Cool idea, and it turned into something fun and entertaining to read.

These is My Words, by Nancy E. Turner.  Maybe you've already read it, as I think it's kind of popular.  I'm only somewhere around the middle of it, but, man!, am I enjoying it.  It is written as the journal of a woman who lived in the Arizona territories in the late nineteenth century.  I believe it is based on an actual woman, and I want to know how much is true because it's quite the sensational story so far.

Anyway, I recommend all of the books.  I'm looking forward to reading more before the summer's over (which is in one month for me - boo!), and I feel almost justified because I am a reviewer for a friend's website (although someone already did These is . . ., I think).