Things Read

"Sometimes paper is only paper," my mother says. "Words are just words. Ways to capture the real thing. Don't be afraid to remember that."

I know what she means. Writing, painting, singing - - it cannot stop everything. Cannot halt death in its tracks. But perhaps it can make the pause between death's footsteps sound and look and feel beautiful, can make the space of waiting a place where you can linger without as much fear. For we are all walking each other to our deaths, and the journey there between footsteps makes up our lives.

Reached - Ally Condie

Roses after Rain, Missoula, September 2013

August in Pictures

 smokey skies

Minidoka National Historic Site, ID

Minidoka sign

Minidoka bunkhouse

 feather

 swimming hole

fence

 Boise nature center, and story walk path

Boise nature center

 Boise nature center sculpture

sculpture close up

 sculpture

 Craters of the Moon

 smoke, lava, mountains

 smoke. lava, mountains

tree

type of buckwheat, growing in lava bed

lava, smoke, mountains

lava bed

 lava bed

 packing (alien cat?)

 boxes

empty

 empty

 Headframe

Plan Q, Phase I

Oh, poor, poor neglected blog. That's what happens when you get stuck in a rut. The past few years have been mainly a matter of endurance, which typically involves a great deal of "stuckness." Things are beginning to shift, though....

One of the reasons I went to library school was to find a job I enjoyed, that would also allow me financial breathing space, and the ability to afford the things I loved to do. Four years after moving for my first professional library job, I'm in a place where I may be able to realize these goals.

I'm working full-time (since April) as an academic reference librarian. While the job has its downsides (working weekends and evenings), it has its pluses as well. The university I work for is online, which means my work environment is online. Translated, as long as I have electricity and an internet connection, I can work anywhere.

One of my loves is travel, but I've not been in a position to afford much travel for some time now. Happily, my job situation opens up the possibility of traveling while I work.

So I've decided to take a chance, make a change, and launch myself out into the wide world.

I'm leaving Butte in September. I'll be spending a couple months in Missoula, and then another couple months celebrating the holidays with family in Iowa. I'm calling this 4 month period Phase I of the larger Plan Q.

What is the rest of Plan Q? Well, it will test the portability factor of my job (while hopefully not making Callie too cranky). I'm still researching and developing Phase II, but it most definitely involves travel, and doing some of the things I've had on my list for a very, very long time.

Stay tuned for the further adventures of the traveling librarian and her grouchy cat!