January 22
Hello, internet.
It’s been a while!
There are lots of reasons I haven’t been writing much. I could explain them all, but chances are, it’s not that interesting, and everyone who is a functioning adult pretty much understands, anyway. I started a new job, I have people I love and a sport I’m very dedicated to and there’s so little time and so much to fill it with, and things go the way they go. (I also think that the older I get, the more the things I’m going through involve other people in a way that makes me more thoughtful of how publicly I process. But that’s a rambling post of its own.)
So here’s what I think I’m going to try: One recap for each month. All the photos I love from it, and a record of the highs and lows and some mundane things worth remembering. If I occasionally get more than that up here, great. But if not, that gives me an achievable bar to jump over. And a way to collect memories in a venue where I have more ownership than, say, Instagram; which is quickly becoming a shopping platform. Curses.
So, first up.
JANUARY:
I started January stamping snow from my boots in the doorway of an Airbnb in Florence, CO, as I packed up my car from a climbing trip with friends. The cold white stayed with us through the Texas panhandle as we made our way home; skin and muscles aching from five days of cragging, but so pleased with the company and accomplishments. I managed to squeak out a send of The Raw and the Roasted, an 11c I tried once on a past trip; as well as an 11b called Regroovable that may well have ended up being my favorite route of the trip. It was so nice to benchmark some of my progress on routes that I previously couldn’t finish or wouldn’t even try. Satisfying to feel growth in such a tangible way.
January held a lot of climbing of its own, from the gym to the near-weekly Reimers commute. I started projecting Fangoria, a 12a that would be my first of the grade, and was happy to make decently quick progress on it. However, my body feels pretty tired, and I know I need to get on a more balanced and intentional training schedule of some kind pretty soon. Especially as I start dreaming of mega-project routes I’d love to try in the future… I spent quite a bit of time just going through guidebooks and dog-earing climbs that gave me butterflies.
Work has been great, though getting back into the swing of things after Christmas break definitely took a bit. I am still surprised some days by how much I enjoy teaching — my kids are hooligans, but they keep me laughing and on my toes in a way that makes getting bored just about impossible. The days move quick most of the time, and I am honored by those small moments where kids trust me enough to give me some insight on the tough things they are holding and allow me to speak (I hope) some life into those dark spaces. Those stories don’t feel like mine to share just yet (especially since some of them have googled me and found this site… hi, you tiny creeps!), but I hold them all close. They are the things that give this job meaning.
On one of my lunch breaks early in the month, I impulsively texted a bunch of my favorite women and asked them if they would like to be a part of ISHAOS 2K22, the International Sisterhood of Highly Attainable Outdoor Shenanigans. I then made a list of months and a highly attainable outdoor activity for each one, and luckily, they were game. This gives me an excuse to see/hear from all of them, since they are spread out all over the place (including Canada! Hi, Nikki!), and also keeps us all having some fun, hopefully. For example, the task I assigned for January was to eat pizza and/or drink a beer outdoors, which resulted in me spending a day with the lovely Ellen Dortenzo; wandering Half Price Books, picking up Little Caesar’s on the way home, and eating a slice each on her sunny back porch in our puffy jackets and beanies, texting the others a selfie to prove it and high fiving our accomplishment.
In the past year, most of my best friends have become long-distance. My best friend and her husband moved to Longmont, CO earlier this year; another dear friend went to Fort Worth, and several others have spread out to various corners, leaving me in the highly-unusual-for-me situation of being the one who, for the time being, is rooted somewhere behind. I am always the one who leaves, and it has been good but hard to be the staying friend. The one for whom it is not yet time to go. I love my Houston people, still, but there have been a lot of very bittersweet days, and on an off-day in early January I took advantage of really beautiful weather to bike to a bridge those two women and I loved when we all lived here together and just hung out in the sunshine and let myself miss them and kind of process where I’m at and where maybe I’m headed and think and pray and just be. I played outside with my dog and read books on my parents’ back porch and tried to practice some gratitude for this season instead of just internally moaning about missing my friends. I’m not always great at it.
I did get to see some people I don’t normally get to, and that was nice! Stayed with dear family friends while in Austin for a wedding, and got to sit on their couch and talk and play with their English bulldog who is the most hilarious animal you’ve ever seen. My sister and brother-in-law came to town for a visit the very next weekend, and we ate at POST Houston and got drinks at Better Luck Tomorrow and I mined Reagan’s recent music so that I can be secondhand cool which is kind of the gist of our whole relationship, and yeah. It was lovely and good.
STUFF I LIKED:
I read three books in January, and loved them all, but I think I’ll reserve those for Stack posts, which I’m going to try to catch up on.
I received a subscription to Hi Hey Hello magazine for Christmas, and it’s one of my favorite gifts bar none. It’s an outdoor magazine run entirely by women, with female contributors and story subjects. The design is gorgeous and the content is amazing. I love it very much and couldn’t recommend it enough!
I bought this print from artist Sam Larson and it’s hanging on my wall now and makes me so happy. Other artists I loved this past month include: Brooklyn Bell, Abbey Lossing (who also happens to be an Austin climbing buddy!), Jill Richie, Sarah Belford, Victor Cheng, Owen Tozer, and Yinki Ying’s Climbing Animated account.
I watched The Wall a couple days after it was released, and while it wasn’t the most narrative-driven documentary I’ve ever seen, it was beautifully filmed and I think the creators did a good job of weaving together all their footage considering there was no way for them to know outcomes as they gathered content.
The Approach film is one of my favorite ski/snowboard things ever.
I’m one of the only people I know who still actively uses Pinterest, I think, but I love the visuals! I’ve been really into my own account lately, ha — just scrolling through the things I’ve saved and enjoying the little corner of pretty I have collected on the internet.
I am playing Wordle like the rest of the world and am very into it.
