Monday, July 1, 2013

So Long, Farewell


Well, the first part of my summer adventure has come to a close. Duluth, you are a fickle lover. Most of the time the weather makes one look to sailors for the right vocabulary to describe it (for instance, running a marathon in June under a hypothermia warning). However, when the day clears and the sun shines over Lake Superior, there is little that can match the beauty of the city. I got to see many people and places and simply enjoy Duluth and friends. Special thanks go out to Luke and Chelsey Harju, who quartered me for over a month and were the pinnacle of hospitality, inviting me into their lives with a rare combination of both warmth and space. And of course it was wonderful to have some time with Anna, Peter, and Paisley. Here's one last shot of niece and uncle before departing:



On Tuesday I will be back in the Windy City! I'm pretty excited to have a social life for an entire month before heading back to Boston.

Anyway, now I'm in the Twin Cities until Tuesday to hang out with Jessica, Isaac, and Daphne one last time before I start heading West. They were out of town yesterday, so I ended up having a few hours at their house alone. Naturally, I decided to journal and watch The Sound of Music. I've had a hankering to watch it for about three months, and I imagined that, knowing my sister, she would have it (it turns out my sister got it as a secret santa present from an Air Force lieutenant in Turkey; you just never know!) Two parts get me every time: Captain Von Trapp coming in and joining the children in their singing  of "The Sound of Music" for the first time (obvs) and his rendition of "Edelweiss" at the Salzburg Festival. Today I'm going to meet up with long-time friend Polly (Lund) Inestroza for lunch and then my sister for a four-mile run afterwards. Hopefully I use a little self-control during lunch so I'm not dry-heaving my way through a four-miler. If I had to put money on it, I would bet against myself. I call it Free Chips and Salsa Syndrome, and I have it bad.

This morning I also had the weird experience of reading one of my BU professor's (Dr. Chris Evans) blog posts on Huffington Post. He writes about the United Methodist Church's stance on homosexuality, and I think it is worth the read.

You know what I find really annoying? Getting unnecessary vaccinations. Last week I was attempting to register for classes for the fall (which I should have done about three months ago, but let's not split hairs at this point), and I found I had a block on my account. So, when I researched what was causing the block, I discovered that I was missing a varicella vaccine. Not being up on the medical lingo, I looked up varicella and found that its common name was chicken pox. Having already had chicken pox (I remember clearly having it in kindergarten because I missed the circus we put on for our parents; I was to be the ringmaster because I could read, and I was heartbroken to miss my big break), I thought a simple phone call would clear up this mistake. So, I rang up BU's student health and was informed that I either needed proof of the vaccination or proof that I had the chicken pox. Well, this was problematic. First, I'm sure my mom didn't take me in to the doctor when I had chicken pox because she purposefully infected all four children at once and didn't need a doctor to tell her to rub calamine lotion on us at $75 per appointment. Second, even if there were records, they were probably written on parchment and buried in some bureaucratic catacomb. So, after trying to figure out ways to circumvent the insanity, I finally succumbed to the inevitable and got a vaccine for a disease I am immune to. All I can say is the vaccine better be covered by my insurance...and I better not get some weird form of shingles.

Anyway, now I'm going to relax and do some reading before lunch (because up to this point I've really been working hard). I tried to pick up an american tea cake (the most amazing pastry in the world) from The Baker's Wife (the most amazing bakery in Minneapolis, at least), but they are closed on Monday. You can imagine my sense of disappointment as I pulled up and noticed the darkened interior and the unlit OPEN sign. I guess I'll have to pick one up on my way out of town tomorrow. Also, in case you are interested, an anagram for Dave Bjorlin is "banjo drivel," which happens to be one of my favorite genres of music. So, that about sums it up. Also, vote on the new poll to your left. Later!

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