The Return of Your Faith

Hehe, I couldn't think of what else to title this.

So, hi! I'm back. I'm sooo glad to see by all the comments that you all missed me so much. lol No, seriously, I didn't expect y'all to comment on that last post. It was, as I said, very disjointed. Hopefully that won't happen again, though.

Camping was a blast! I almost fell out of the canoe twice, got run over by a motorcycle once, attacked by chipmunks once, and got lost three times! That, ladies and gentlemen, makes for a great and successful trip indeed. Camping is not a success if you don't have several close calls and lose yourself along the way. Nope, that's not camping. That's .... boring. Oh, and I got a pretty sweet tan too. Liz says we're now the "bronze beach babes", since none of the other girls on the beach had tans like Liz and I had. lol The thing is that I don't really care about whether I have a tan or not. Its weird enough to try to comprehend the fact that my skin changes color.

So, currently we are in the Persied Meteor Shower. And for those of you who don't really know what that means, it means that basically, there are meteors showering across the sky right now, and they're coming from the direction of the Persied constellation. My freshmen friends here at NSA had a stargazing party while I was camping, so I totally missed out on that. I watched the meteors the same night they did, but while they sat in lawn chairs in someone's backyard to watch the stars, I was laying on my back out on a dock on the lake(a much more dramatic setting, if you ask me). It was one of the most incredible experiences. You're laying there, with the dock sort of rising and falling with the current, and the lights from the houses waaay over on the other side of the lake are reflected in the water's surface. The water itself was so still that you could see the stars in the water. The mountains in the distance lay like two black ... things, and the railroad the runs between them is never still. Trains run on that track at least once an hour, so you can always hear the whistle blowing. But hearing the whistle blowing in the darkness, breaking through the stillness that seems to drift over the lake... well, that is something entirely different. Laying out there that night, with the stars above me (and seemingly below me too, in the water), and the sound of the water lapping up onto the shore, and the wind blowing ever so slightly, it was one of those moments that amaze and frighten at the same time. It's amazingly strange and beautiful.

The whole time we were camping I had the song Summertime by the New Kids On The Block stuck in my head, so I had to listen to it on my ipod when I got back this afternoon. Summertime is the most perfect beach-summer song there is. I think I posted the lyrics to it a while ago (or maybe I only posted part of them?), but I'll have to post the song itself for y'all soon. Summertime is probably the song of the summer. But it's followed closely by All Summer Long by Kid Rock. The ultimate summer song, of course, is and always will be Sweet Home Alabama by Lynerd Skynerd, no questions asked. But each summer can have its own little league song, and this year's is Summertime.

Speaking on music, isn't it funny how certain songs will remind you of people or places or events? Forever by Chris Brown reminds me of my graduation night. More specifically, it brings to mind an image of myself sitting on my bedroom floor at 12:30 AM, opening my graduation gifts and talking to Seth on IM and listening to Forever. In the same way, *anything* by the Doobie Brothers reminds me of the Chepe in Mexico, because I listened to the Doobie Brothers on my ipod a large part of the whole way from Chihuahua to El Fuerte, which is a seven hour trip or more. So yes, the Doobie Brothers now remind me of Mexico. And Ever Ever After by Carrie Underwood reminds me of the Summer Academy back in May/June. Me singing it, and Abbie playing the violin along with Juliet on the piano, and everyone else sort of standing in the door way listening. And now Summertime reminds me of walking through the woods by the lake, exploring the campground.

Its interesting how certain memories will seem to attach themselves to certain things. Not just music, even, but sometimes it happens with houses or clothes or books. You see something and a random memory suddenly comes to mind of someone (or something). Its as if they left behind a piece of themselves in the thing and every time you see it, you see them.

However, it's late, and before I leave my sanity behind by saying up any longer, I should call it a night and go attempt to get some sleep before the morning light.

Good night, everyone! It's great to be back.