Hola, folks! Crazy day today.
Got up to wish Heather off for the day, gathered some information to reply to my accountant who had some questions.
Ate breakfast, did the dishes, took out the trash, and tried to work a little bit.
My friend John ended up on an earlier flight than he had originally gotten, which left me scrambling a little bit to try and get my van ready, so that there was room for two of us in there, especially with him being well over 6 ft tall. 🙃
The next door neighbor came over to ask for some help with his trailer, the lights not functioning properly, so I went over to help them a little bit, which meant that by the time I was able to help him fix his trailer, it was almost time for me to leave to go pick up John from the airport.
And Rover was an absolute disaster. 😅
I was late picking up john, but he’s easy going, so that was nice. We headed straight from the airport up to Sturgis, South Dakota, to have lunch at a little restaurant called Loud American Sturgis.
I figured that since we were so close, it might be fun for him to see the little town that I think is home to the largest motorcycle rally in the World.
We first stopped off at a UPS drop off location to drop off a package for Hans and one for me, but it turned out that they couldn’t do any sort of packaging nor printing out of shipping labels, so it was a no-go.
Fortunately, we were going to head back through Rapid City on our way to the hippie hole, so we went ahead and got our lunch and just chatted for a good little while.
After lunch, we stopped by another UPS location, dropping off both packages, and then heading over to the Hippie Hole in the heart of the Black Hills.
If you are not familiar, the hippie hole is a fun little cliff jumping spot that my sister and brother-in-law have mentioned to me several times but that I had not yet been to, so John and I explored it together, each for the first time.
Heather warned me about the presence of poison ivy along the trail, but what we found when we got there was beyond anything I’ve ever seen.
The forest floor was basically one big carpet of poison ivy. I wouldn’t be surprised if a third or a half of all the plants were poison ivy.
I’ve never seen so much in my entire life.
It was absolutely mind-boggling.
We weren’t deterred however, and simply very carefully made our way along the very narrow path on the 20-minute, or so, hike down to the Hippie Hole.
It was already getting pretty late, and John was not feeling well, having first thought he was just dealing with allergies, but by the time he had gotten to South Dakota was thinking it was actual sickness, so he didn’t jump in that time, but we’re planning on coming back.
I think I jumped in maybe twice? I don’t remember now, and then we headed back relatively quickly so as to make it back before it got too dark.
We saw a big fluffy white mountain goat just across the creek that was totally unconcerned by our presence, letting me sit and take pictures and video him. 😊
After the Hippie Hole, John and I headed over to Mount Rushmore. It was dark and not lit up, which was actually kind of perfect, as they lit it up probably 15 minutes after we got there, finishing the last bit of their historical presentation before lighting it up.
We listen to the last of the presentation, a little bit of music, and then when that portion of the presentation was over, John and I headed over to the path that walks you down all the way to the foot of the sculptures.
I always feel a sense of reverence at that monument. Certainly the the men whose visages were carved in stone weren’t perfect, but I’m grateful for much of what they did and for this great country.
At the same time, there’s also that sorrowful recognition of the lack of consideration and respect for the native Americans that allowed that monument to be brought about.
It’s an interesting dichotomy, if that’s the right word–both reverence and sorrow.
Being as late as it was, and John being sick, he wasn’t quite up for staying in my van, so he reserved a room at the local Baymont hotel just down the road from Mt. Rushmore, where we hung out for a little bit and then crashed for the night.
Gratitude to My Father:
- I’m grateful to have been able to help my neighbor get his trailer going.
- I’m grateful to be able to spend time with John. It’s generally a fair number of years between each time we see each other.
- I’m grateful that despite the health issues that I do have, I still have the health to jump off of the 20 to 25 ft cliff into water and to swim out and climb up the side of the cliff again. There are many many people who can’t.
- I’m grateful to be to have the means to be able to take time away from work, by lunches, spend money on gas to drive all over the place, etc.
- I’m grateful for the gift of sobriety. God is so good to me.
We. Celebrate. Successes!!! 🥳:
- I think I’ve been doing better at keeping my composure when uncomfortable blessings come, instead of getting really frustrated.
Reflections on Where I Can Improve:
- It’s long-standing procrastination, to some degree, that made it so Rover wasn’t in a condition to easily have room for two people.
Thought of the Day:
Friendship is one of the grand fundamental principles of ‘Mormonism;’ [it is designed] to revolutionize and civilize the world, and cause wars and contentions to cease and men to become friends and brothers.
~ Joseph Smith
Good night, my lovelies. 😊
Lift the world.
Bring it on.
~ stephen
Lift the World 