Junior Year

It's been a blur so far. It feels not so long ago that the school year was back upon us, and it even feels not much longer ago than that I was biking back from Maine. But as I settle back into the rhythmic life, the leaves again falling, I realize that I can enjoy being back in "the grind", or as I dubbed it in a previous post, the "return to regularity". If nothing else, I'm trying to appreciate the little things. As a lot of my day to day activities again become very rigid, it is the small irregularities that add verve. Taking a little bit of extra time to enjoy the morning coffee on the weekends.
There are the bigger things. This morning I got to skip school. Instead, I drove to Conneaut with a few of my Outdoor Leadership companions to surprise a group of school faculty on a with a first aid scenario. I had a compound fracture on my right forearm. It gave me great pleasure to yell at my former 9th grade Humanities teacher that "MY ARM HURTS I NEED YOU TO FIX IT NOW". How's that for a Friday morning?
Then there are the big things. I'm thrilled that Aunt Kim is coming to visit all of us in NE Ohio in a couple of weeks. The last time I saw her was about 1.5 years ago when she took me on the Grand Tour of California. Of the family, I actually can boast that I have seen her the most recently. For the others, it's been years. It should be fun!
Then there are great things: upcoming adventures! In three weeks I'll be heading out for a backpacking trip with Outdoor Leadership to Pennsylvania. That should be a good time. But the real event will be in December. Details are starting to be finalized for my school trip to Vietnam. I'm incredibly excited. For three weeks I will be traveling with 14 of my classmates on a grand immersion of the country. To prepare we have a semester class looking at the Vietnam War, Vietnamese culture, and the society before and after America's war involvement.
The only other fun project now is the drift trike. Another fun "from scratch" build. This project is fun in particular because I am noticing my technical improvement from the go kart. Everything is at least a little bit better. Working with my hands always provides a tonic from the weight of the world. I'll end with that.