The drive up was pretty uneventful, we did have to detour around a highway up north of Flagstaff due to some forest fires, but it gave us an opportunity to get a sneak peek at the Grand Canyon, which though I visited there as a child I have no recollection of.
When we got up to Idaho it was about 9:00 at night. The sun was still out, which was odd. When we got out of the car the outside temperature was probably in the neighborhood of 75 degrees and we were both shivering we were so cold. Can I just say what a wuss Arizona has turned me into. Last May we didn't want to get into the swimming pool because it was "too cold". We used to jump in canals coming off of the snake river that were so cold it was hard to breath and we loved it! What a softie I have become, ugh.
My friend's family was very generous and let us stay at their house while we were there. This family is like a second family to me, and I missed them dearly, so it was fun to be able to spend some quality time with them. They have recently acquired some chickens and built a pen and coop and what not. I've discovered that I love chickens. I went out there and fed them and played with them every chance I got. I totally want chickens now. And a dog. Boy do I want a dog. Anyone want to give me a dog?
I had the opportunity to go camping a few times. I absolutely love being in the outdoors, and I'm a total nerd/geek about wilderness survival and the like. My first camping trip gave me the opportunity to try out some gear and sweet skillz that until then I'd only read about on the internet. I got myself a nice big knife, and was splitting wood with it through a technique called batoning.
vid of me batoning
I also got to use my little titanium pot to cook myself a little stew. I brought some veggies from home, and was also able to gather a fair amount of wild onions from the hills by the camp. Quite the delicious little tidbit. I tried my hand at making a snare trap to see if I could catch some squirrel for my dinner, but while the snare worked perfectly, I didn't actually catch anything. It didn't come as a big surprise, but it was nice to know that I could build a functioning snare. Some other cool stuff I tried was starting a fire with my flint and steel. I know a nifty trick of starting fires with cotton balls soaked in vasoline. I've always been able to get a small fire going with this technique, and the flame you get from the cotton ball lasts for about two minutes, plenty of time to build a fire.
On the second camping trip I didn't do to much hardcore stuff, just enjoyed the evening after a fun swim at falls creek. (Side note, I jumped in the frigid water and redeemed my manhood!) Being out in the woods with a warm fire, and the bright stars shining above you is one of the most relaxing and joyful things I have ever done. It's probably what I miss the most about living out in a rural area. When I look up at the stars here, all I see is an endless stream of planes and helicopters passing by, and the noise of traffic drowning everything else out.
I also had the opportunity to spend some time with an awesome friend down in Provo. We ate good food, rocked out on the Ukulele, and had some good conversation time in the park. What a spiritual giant she is, if I was half as awesome as her I'd pat myself on the back for such an accomplishment. We are relatively new friends, and spent a lot of time asking questions about each other. One thing in particular she asked me, and how I answered, really kind of surprised me. She asked me what my biggest goals in life were. In my mind I quickly thought of scoring a sweet job, and making lots of money, and traveling to all the cool places on the planet. But I sat and thought for a second, and like a slap in the face three distinct thoughts popped into my head. Number one I want to be a father, I've wanted to have children for as long as I can remember. Number two, I want to be able to provide for my children everything they need to succeed both temporally and spiritually, which, I've decided is the only real reason that I should want a good job that pays well. And number three, I want to get re-married in the temple. I had never really given it much serious thought, but sitting there it hit me like a ton of bricks that those three things are all that really mattered to me in the long run. Everything else just pales in comparison. Now that's not to say that I don't still want some fun big boy toys and the other pleasures of life, but as long as I can accomplish those big three, no matter what else happens I will be a happy and blessed man.
It amazes me that such a simple conversation could be so life-changing for me, but my whole frame of mind about who I need to be and what I need to be doing is completely different than what it was a year or even a few months ago. I've spent the better part of my adult life just floating around, not really accomplishing anything, not taking anything as seriously as I should have been. But now, and this sounds so corny, but there is literally a burning desire in me to become a better person, and seek out the potential I know is in me, to accomplish the things that God wants me to accomplish, and be a benefit to myself, to my loved ones, to my friends and associates, and not just a drain on the world.
So there it is, I totally feel like a changed person, with real direction in life, and all thanks to a simple conversation with a sweet girl in Provo. Good Mormon girls rule!
