My journal pages always get more ink when I’m on a plane. Maybe because looking down onto a mosaicked landscape with the meditative buzz of engines makes me reflect on where I am and where I’m going (and, often, where I’ve been).
“From this high you also get a good view of who you are.” The Nature Valley magazine ad rings true whether on a plane or hanging on a rope hundreds of feet above a sea of trees and granite.
Tyler and I on top of Fairview Dome, Yosemite
Iva Bell Hot Springs, a 13 mile trek into the heart of granite bodies with forested skirts
I’ve been taking advantage of a mostly-healed back by verb-ing every chance I get and relapsing with my drug of choice: endorphines. Mountain biking overlooking Lake Tahoe, dancing in the streets of Boston, backpacking to remote hot springs in Mammoth, the adventures hardly seem to fit within the confined weekend walls of my Outlook calendar. My vacation balance hovers around zero, and for good reason – life is too short not to explore!
A montage of beautiful memories and sensations frame this summer: the taste of Cheezits and Ukrainian champagne while watching the sun set into the Grand Canyon, the shaky legs and exhilarating heart-thump while climbing up 1000 feet of granite, and the full-body shock of jumping into many a snow-fed alpine lake stark naked.
It’s not all sunsets and teva-clad unicorns (though it mostly is). On my last international escapade to Colombia I brought back a stowaway. The intestinal parasite spent the next few months making sure that I dropped weight like Galileo’s gravity experiment with a bowling ball. Thank you modern medicine for removing my need to instantly catalog the nearest bathroom or bush.
I also acquired a new family member. Her name is Mindy and I found her on the San Francisco Craigslist. I named her after her mint-green frame and ride her almost every single day. She is, of course, my new bike!
Mindy and I on a bike tour through SF and Marin
We’ve already experienced the pain of separation (she was stolen in July) and the joy of reunion (my boyfriend found her within 24 hours!). We’ve become well acquainted on daily commutes, during a bike-tour near San Francisco, and up a few mountain passes in California and Nevada.
Tonight, on the eve of becoming a quarter-century young, I want to thank each of you for your hugs (because I don’t know how you could avoid that with me), laughter (again, unavoidable) and constant inspiration to savor this time on our most remarkable planet.
I also hope that this serves as a reminder that I’ve been waiting all year for your birthday song, especially if it’s off key.
Love and chocolate cake,
V
The Mona Visa 