Date: 2003-11-05
From: merck forest & farmland center

To: merck forest & farmland center
Miles today: 0.0

to wake up in a warm house. i could get used to it. however, i did wake up a couple of times last night and i would swear that it was at least 100 degrees in the room where i was sleeping. i woke up drenched in sweat a couple of times. very interesting. can¢t really turn down a woodstove like a thermostat in a regular house. just don¢t add more wood to the fire and it will cool off eventually.this morning, amanda and her roommates went to work on the farm while i held down the fort. i thought about joining them in splitting firewood, but it was cold and raining (of course it was- this is vermont and it is november) for most of the day. so, i sat in the warmth of the house and worked on the journal and watched the rain and was so very glad that i wasn¢t out in it. when the rain finally did let up in the afternoon i borrowed amanda¢s car and drove into manchester center.yes, i drove, and it was- different. this was the first time i have driven in four weeks. but, i guess it is just like riding a bike or something. i didn¢t wreck, so that is good. i headed into manchester center and ran some errands- went to the post office, library, all the fun town stuff.back at the farm, i met amanda when she got off work and we went on some adventures. it is so nice to be around someone i know. of course, it really makes me somewhat homesick and all that crap. we called shoeless jon and my other roommate from my days in the farmhouse last year- tim. tim is getting married in a few months. (aren¢t they all getting married in a few months?) they may as well be. it seems like people are just itching to get hitched. they can¢t wait to get tied down. oh well. what are you going to do? i have no idea. i¢ll just keep on being a cowboy. or, as my friend, girl next door puts it- being an explorer. this is what she has to say in regards to the matter:         ¢....tell the ladies you're an explorer. that brings to mind more exciting things than those ridiculous chaps. unless you like wearing the tight jeans... and sounding like a tap dancer when walking on hardwood floors. BUT, cowboys do have the advantage of walking into a saloon and busting open the swinging doors while everyone looks them over. HOWEVER, with an explorer ........... oh! you'll have so many stories and wild adventures that few could top!! and a wider variety of ensembles...your everest parka vs your jungle loincloth. see there, so many choices....¢                (as taken from an email by GND)i can see where she is coming from, but there is just something about the cowboy. something more daring. something more mysterious. something more high plains drifter-type. and, what in the world am i talking about? where did i get all this?tim. yes, tim. i spoke to tim on the phone and he¢s getting hitched just like it seems all of them are these days. (¢them,¢ referring to my peers. the general population that is my age. most of the people i went to high school with). man, i miss tim. he is a good guy. and, shoeless jon, too, of course. he is one of the best. guys like tim and shoeless jon are hard to find. they are alright in my book.i do love to go off on the tangent. i¢m not sure what the point is. just recapping the day. thinking about those days when the three of us lived in the farmhouse in the thriving metropolis of weaverville, nc, last year. yep. those were the good old days. those were some fun times, my friend- fun times.reading back over this makes me think that maybe i didn¢t make it back to this side of sanity yesterday. this all reads like a mix matched jumbled mess of complete nonsense.oh well. tonight i¢ll be sleeping in a real house, under a real roof, in a real bed. and, amanda sprader is still my hero.