clean and new

I moved out of my home in Buffalo exactly a month ago. 2,187 miles and nine beds later, I'm temporarily bunked on Ethan's bed in Leonard Houghton 23. So I have internet for a moment. And for all the naysayers--that's 2,187 miles on my sweet old pickup without a single hiccup. Take your shiny Fords and your plasticky Escalades and go home.



I just got out of the woods--a week of living outside in the rain, coddling flatlander softies and cajoling the tremulous into pushing themselves. I am so deeply and profoundly happy to be working not just with my hands, but with my heart.
Happy, happy, happy. My students actually begged me to lullaby them to sleep at night. I talked people up rope ladders and down zip lines and through puzzles and mazes and initiatives and built fires. What more could you ask for?



So I went home twice for various celebrations of my brother's escaping high school, and discovered the joy of Lord of the Rings miniatures strategy gaming and promptly played two straight all-nighters before settling for gaming only during twilight hours. The Men of Minas Tirith will hold fast!



And I got a satisfyingly bloody week of work in Buffalo, replete with two gunshots, an incredibly messy car wreck (see ambulance below, after brisk swabbing with towels), and of course the obligatory drunk guys.

Well. It's Houghton for me for the summer, with the Upward Bound students. I'm off to a barbeque tonight, and staff training tomorrow. Cheers!