humidity

People talk about dry heat like it's no big deal. That it's not that bad & that a person can stand 20 more degrees in dry heat than in humidity. This has always seemed a bit crazy & being out west didn't seal the deal. However ... returning to the humidity puts everything in perspective!

At Andy & Tammy's (Betsy's brother & sister-in-law's house) in Des Moines Iowa, I went out to the car to pack my bags for the flight (the exploded trunk & back car seat just wasn't gonna cut it for the plane, I was sure of it!) at, oh, 8 in the morning. It was probably 80 or so degrees (I remind you, I've been in 100+ weather for a couple weeks so it didn't feel at all bad) & I about died!! I was still sweating after I returned inside - in fact, Betsy made a funny comment about how soaked I still was 10 minutes after I'd been in air conditioning!

Every day for the last 6 weeks I've done some sort of travel by foot, so this morning I thought I'd start out my first day back in Virginia with a walk/jog (the impetus for this little entry) & I about died (notice a theme?)! So I've got some adjusting to do to the weather. Either that, or my friends and family in Virginia are gonna have to get used to me being a bit stinky :)

Anyway. What did we (Betsy & I) do in the humidified portion of our trip?

• Well, first of all, we used the air conditioning in the car more than any other time out west!
  
• We visited/crashed of the futons of some of her amazing friends and family.
  
• Hung out with some adorable & feisty children.
  
• Ate a veggie burger in southern Minnesota (sorry, no nasty picture this time, just evidence of being back in Minnesota).
  

• Saw some corn.
  
• Okay, a LOT of corn.
  
• Went to a Twins game & this sweet hippyish t-shirt/bumper sticker store in Minneapolis called Northern Sun.

Without the flash (so you can actually tell ... kinda ... that we're actually at the stadium)

With the flash (so you can see our lovely faces & Twins get-up)

And ended it all with a trip to the airport where I learned an incredible lesson: don't mix airlines - do the layover thing all you want, but don't switch airlines. Especially, of all places, in Chicago, because getting my butt from one terminal to the opposite side of the airport in Chicago is one ridiculous thing, but expecting people who don't care about my luggage to get my luggage from one side of the airport to the other in Chicago is a whole nuther thing. (Good usage of "nuther", eh?)

So that's that! There's LOTS we both learned about ourselves & each other - for me about (maybe) what I'd like to do with my life, about how life ought to be (& ought NOT to be), about who I am when life isn't forcing down stress & obligations. Okay, when I'M not forcing stress & obligations on myself. All amazing lessons! We've got lots ... & lots ... & lots of pictures to show & stories to tell. Betsy's getting ordained in a week! (Holy crap, I know! How amazing is that?) And we've got all kinds of catching up to do with you all. Thanks for following us along in this journey. It's been a blast!

Betsy ... any last thoughts? Any interest in putting ordination pics on this little blog here?