A random box appears!
It’s the excitement of checking your mailbox (or in my case, my desk) every day to see if there’s an envelope addressed with your name waiting. Sealed carefully with prized contents, careful not to rip the whole thing apart, I turn the envelope over a few times. My heart rate rises as I spy a new object that beckons for attention.
Outdated. Due for extinction. A thing of the past. The postal service has been fighting a losing battle since technology like cell phones and the internet became mainstream but I still check for mail daily. Usually in Washington the only mail I get are hospital bills courtesy of a rugby injury or items from the university. However receiving letters from friends this summer has been a blessing. Living in Blackduck has been tough at times with my social circle only amounting to a handful of people, mainly with the boys who live in the bunkhouse.
I’m terrible at responding to letters in a timely fashion. I suppose that’s one of the reasons why people are straying from them- our society demands an instant reply to emails, text messages, and the like. Another reason you might be on the losing end of being my pen-pal is that my thoughts are often in disarray. If you’ve read any of these blog posts that’s evident. I’m not eloquent and sometimes my letters are too long or sometimes they’re too short. Writing was never my strong point but I like to think that these activities are helping. Corresponding by mail even allows me to vote thanks to Washington’s absentee ballot system.
Do your civic duty. For reals.
Greetings from Coco in Canada!
One of the most amazing things to receive are care packages. My best friend Emily (we caused mayhem in NH/interned together for SCA) sent a birthday/care package that completely turned around a tick ruined day.
Emily managed to fit a t-shirt in there. Talk about magic.
Kadrina’s gifts
Last month Kadrina, a friend who I interned with at One Reel, surprised me with some gifts from Seattle.
Vienna’s surprise
Today I got back from the field to find a box from Amazon. Vienna had some snacks and a tin of badger balm sent to me. Talk about surprises! The last thing I need in Minnesota is food though as I’m trying to eat what I have without letting any extras go to waste.
Letters are magical though because you never know when you’re going to get them, who you’re going to get them from, and when you just might get one. However, if you’re not of the snail mail fan club stay in touch via more advanced technology – I lose track of people far too easily.
The wall’s totally behind…
An update on bunkhouse life- I’ll eventually write a more detailed post on what that’s like.
The fellas from the bunkhouse have been leaving one by one as summer comes to a close. Jarrod left August 1st while my work partner Zack plans to leave either the evening of the 19th or morning of the 20th. Zack”ll be heading back to Colorado for his last year of school and has been amazing to work with as well as hang out with in the evenings and weekends. Art and Ben (who were out West for fire duty the last 14+ days) both start school the week of the 25th which will leave just me and Lee in the bunkhouse.
My time in Minnesota is dwindling as I’ll spend about a week in Michigan visiting Emily and a couple of days in Wisconsin before wrapping up my time in the Midwest with one last weekend in Minneapolis. A last long flight will see me in Seattle on September 22nd.
Pacific Northwest meets Minnesota 