Stop, Collaborate, and Listen

For those of you few who actually read my blog, I extend my most sincere apologies for the lack of posts since early July. I got busy and lazy - yes, there is such a combination - and neglected anything important... or even anything unimportant for that matter. But as the end of this agonizingly slow summer is coming to a close in these last few days, I am realizing that I'm a bit anxious about the upcoming school year. The last few weeks of my summer have just sort of turned everything upside down. I feel like a little kid, rolling down a steep grassy hill over and over - all is a blur and nothing really makes sense (and in all honestly, why'd you decide to do this anyways?) but you're gathering speed and laughing and unable to breathe and every single bit feels alive.

I'm breathless and happy and ready for the next adventure, whether that be school or otherwise. I'm really looking forward to the classes I'll be taking this Fall because they are all courses that I am interested in and chose for myself, rather than following someone else's curriculum for general education. I dearly love to learn. I hungrily soak in knowledge; you could say that it's a passion of mine. I feel that having passion in life is so important. Scarlett O'Hara possessed a "passion for life," according to Ashley Wilkes. And to this day it is the reason that people everywhere love her character: her ability to be so passionate about something that it is so consuming and that she will pursue it to no end.

I want to live my life with such a passion that feels electrically alive. And I want to throw myself wholeheartedly into everything new and exciting because there really is no other way to live. I don't want a mediocre life.

If you know where the title is from, give yourself a pat on the back. :)

Plaid & I on 4th of July

The plaid finally got to travel this summer! I packed up one of the wonderful Bilmore plaid (well, houndstooth - but it's so similar to my plaid backpack that we pretend) suitcases and headed to Ft. Walton Beach with my parents. The oil from the leak in the Gulf has not really hit Florida beaches, so it was absolutely beautiful and oil-free the whole weekend. On the way, we stopped at the Burris Farm Market in Loxley, AL, where I think my mom feels like she's in heaven. They have a giant blow-up peach out front, so Daddy insisted that we take a picture with Plaid:




The ride there was actually quite wonderful, despite a weird problem with the air conditioner that ended up fixing itself once we got about 30 minutes away from our destination. There is something about my parents that brings something out in me than can often get buried in the stresses and routine of this life that I live. It can become easy to fall away from the person that you are when you are surrounded by newness - whether it be new people or places or information. Sometimes the constant stress of classes, work, essays, homework, volunteering, no sleep can pull you into a different state of mind. But riding with the windows down with Van Halen loud on a sunny day with my parents just put me back where I belong. Sometimes I lose it, but I can be fun and carefree and very happy. It is in my nature to be so.

Once we arrived at the hotel, I had Mama shoot a quick picture of Plaid and I in the hotel room (we have to document the travels of Plaid, after all):



The whole of the weekend was really spent just relaxing on the beach. The water, for the first time in several years, had a good strong current with real waves and was jellyfish free. It felt fantastic and was very fun to play in, especially for Daddy. It mades him feel like a little kid again. The weather was just perfect. I finally got a tan, although I'm a little burnt, but that will fade into tan. I got a good bit of reading done - finished two books, so I'm happy about that. On the actual 4th of July, which is Daddy's birthday (he turned 52! Wow!), we ended up going about 30 minutes down the road to Destin because we were trying to find a Target because a lady on the beach told us they have these really cool towel clips:


Unfortunately, the Target in Destin had already long sold out of their Boca Beach Chair Towel Clips. We had quite an adventure getting back to Ft. Walton Beach and had to view the fireworks from the car amidst traffic, but we did get to see some good shows on the way and once we got back. Sadly, I really didn't get any good pictures because it was raining by the time we got back and I was the one driving the car.

Overall, Plaid and I had a great travel experiences this 4th of July on the beach and on the road with my wonderful parents.

(Plaid and I on the Ft. Walton Beach with my new sunglasses and Hollywood floppy hat Mama bought me!)

mississippi heat

IT. IS. SO. HOT. OUTSIDE.

I have no idea how people lived before air conditioning, especially in Mississippi, because this feels like death. Walk outside and choke from the humidity alone. Geez louise, I can't handle this.

On the flip side of the pillow, I thank God it's not freezing cold outside. I can't stand the cold. I'm a medium person. I like medium weather.

Also, because I was wondering how long we've had this glorious invention I like to call the AC, I checked it out on Wikipedia.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Air_conditioning
There's actually some pretty cool history on how people would keep buildings cool and such.

You know it's summer here when the cicadas start to buzz, loud loud loud outside. It seems like they're everywhere, and so loud in your ear that you want to throw a shoe or some sort of sharp object at them to make them stop. But then if they stop for a while, which they do only of their own accord, the silence is more deafening than the noise. And the lightning bugs start coming out and doing their dance when it's dusk, and it's beautiful in its own way. Summer in Mississippi is hard to explain. It is blissful in the evening when there is a breeze, but often there is no breeze, so if you opt to sit on the porch, bring a fan, a book, and a tall glass of water.

And dream of being somewhere else.

rains in asia

When I was younger, my family always drove down to Clearwater Beach, Florida, for about 10 days around the 4th of July - Daddy's birthday. We would always leave sometime in the middle of the night because Daddy liked to drive through the night; it would be cooler without the sun beating down through the windows. We'd have everything packed full in the van and on the trailer ready to go, so that when it was time to leave, nothing really needed to be done. It was always very humid, even in dead of night.

On the road, when everyone else was asleep except Daddy, who was driving usually, I'd stare out the window. I remember resting my head against the window pane, and it was always so cold. The heat and humidity of my body would fog up the area around my face. I would watch the streetlights and the few headlights that passed by. I always just felt so alive in those moments, late at night, traveling. Going somewhere. It just felt important, life-changing.

Even now, I'm old enough to drive and have my own car, and I still get mesmerized driving on the highway at night. I wonder why the rest of these people are on the road and where they are going. And if it is important or life-changing. And I wonder who they are. If there's somebody else out there who's thinking the same thing about me.

There's something about it that touches my soul, something that I cannot quite describe or pinpoint. There is no word or phrase or definition for it. Sometimes it frustrates me that I cannot express this feeling inside me. It's like infinity.

"And she wants to know
Does everyone feel this way
When it rains in Asia
It makes her feel this way
California, London, Bombay
It makes her feel this way
And she wants to know
Is it always raining somewhere"
-Jump Little Children

newness abounds

Today's travels
The Orchard
WalMart
Belk Men and Home
Premiere Lady

Today we got THE luggage. The two Biltmore World Traveler plaid bags that nearly match my backpack spot on. We were afraid that they had been discontinued, but the Belk here still had the ones that I wanted. And so Daddy bought them. (Thank you thank you thank you thank you!) I finally have my own luggage. As a person who expects to spend much time traveling, I feel it was a valuable investment.



Happy [early] birthday to me!

she was just seventeen, if you know what I mean

I think travel is just part of my genetics, like hair or eye color. Mama says I have a "wandering soul," which I feel sounds pretty accurate. As a wanderer, I constantly yearn to travel - even if just down the road. I'll get in my Plymouth Neon and drive. Anywhere, just to go. Just to feel as if I'm going somewhere: my plaid backpack and I.

Won't you travel with me?