Another frustrating story about Ryan Ferguson

This update about Ryan Ferguson is a tad late because I’m practically cut off from civilization here in the mountains with spotty, infrequent internet access and no tv or phone. I’m not going to take the time to say much because I don’t have much time and because I feel I’ve said all that I can at this point.

Alive and thriving

Dear World- I am still alive. My posts are few and far between for several reasons. Our internet access is very limited at camp. Besides that, I am technically “on the clock” 24/7, leaving little time to write. I hardly have communication with anyone outside of LVR, and save for a few people who I miss dearly, it is a blessing to be cut off.

I love living in the mountains. Now that I’m acclaimated I can jog up and down some of the mountains around here, which affords me a great sense of accomplishment, a fantastic view, and occasional cell reception at the summit. I love being constantly busy doing everything from working with the kids to cleaning bathrooms (and everything else on camp) to serving as kitchen support staff– my role this weekend.

This coming week I’ll be working with a horse care camp. I’m so excited about working with the horses. The best part is that we’re taking the horses on an overnight to the Platte River. I’ve been wanting to backpack there, but haven’t had the time or energy so far on my weekends off. Now I get to go while I’m working. Possibly my greatest adventure of the summer so far has been with the horses. Our wrangler Stir-It-Up had me attempt to ride Star bareback. As it turns out, I may have been her first bareback rider ever, which didn’t please her in the slightest. As soon as I slid on her back, she took off running and bucking. I managed to hold onto her mane for a while, then she bucked me off. As far as I’m concerned, I’m pretty much Zoro or something because I held on for a while, and when I did get bucked I managed to land on my feet and not fall over. It wasn’t til the next day when I woke up with a sore neck that I was informed that I hit my head on Star’s rump, which is apparently what helped me land upright. I have no recollection of that, but several witnesses and the crick in my neck confirm it. I still think it was pretty darn cool. I’ve earned my Native American title of Tiger Lily. Maybe I’ll join the rodeo.

The bluebells and other flowers are in bloom now, making the mountains even more gorgeous. I led a sunrise hike up Cedar Mountain last week that was spectacular. Sadly, the blooming flowers have also attracted more bugs, but they’re still nothing compared to Missouri. The weather here is occasionally almost “hot,” but most days I’m still sporting long pants and a hoodie. It will be quite the shock when I go home and it’s 100 degrees and humid. Then again, I’m told it will be pretty warm here come July. Speaking of July, I can’t believe how the time is flying.  I feel like I’ve been here my whole life, but I also feel like I’m just getting started. I’m pretty good at some of the setups, takedowns, and belays for high ropes, rock climbing and rappelling now. I’m not afraid of the tomahawks anymore, though I still avoid taking my groups fishing (still never taken a fish off a hook before). I’ve only been called by my real name about twice in the past month or so. I am Tiger Lily. This place feels so much like home now.

I’ll be getting visitors in July and I can’t wait! If all goes according to plans, I’ll be seeing my dad, my mom, Jon and family, and Michael. A lot of the plans are still in the works, so I’m trying not to anticipate too much in case things fall through. It’s difficult to coordinate schedules and time off, especially when I can rarely use the internet or a phone.

It’s incredible that I’ve had time to write this long of a blog. Perhaps someday soon I’ll be able to post some pictures. Now I have to start preparing everything for the cookout tonight. I hope everyone from my other life is doing well. Comment if you please

Continued adventures in training

Training is almost over- we get our first group of campers tonight after dinner! It’s still a gradual transition because we’re getting a high school group that does a lot of their own stuff, so we don’t have cabin assignments, we’re just leading them in activities.

I’ve learned a lot since I got here slightly over a week ago. I can now set up and belay the rock climbing and rappelling at Eagle Rock. I know how to facilitate most of the low ropes initiatives, tomahawks, archery, hiking to Inspiration Point, Stone Cabin, and Cedar Mountain. We’ll be doing the high ropes tomorrow. We’ve practiced a ton of games and other activities like fishing for rainbow trout with bamboo poles, playing water balloon volleyball, and chasing bears away from the dumpster…

…Oh yes. We had a bear trying to get into our dumpster, so QD and Hawkeye took off running after it. Maybe it wasn’t the best idea. At least QD grabbed a stick- Hawkeye was armed with only his arms. Ki (the cook) came out with a bowie knife. The bear was pretty big, but luckily the guys must have been pretty intimidating, because the bear decided he’d better run away. Since then there’s been talk of hunting the bear, skinning it, and making it into a stew. This might be legal…in self defense…but it’s really just guys talking macho.

We had our staff campout last night, and God blessed us by holding off the rain that’s been sweeping in almost every day thus far. Since I had my (aka Michael’s) zero degree waterproof sleeping bag, I was one of the select seven out of 18 of us who opted to sleep out under the stars instead of under a tarp lean-to. It was gorgeous, with a nice smattering of stars across the inky sky. I saw three shooting stars, and I didn’t watch for that long. QD gave a great devo and we had awesome campfire songs with 2 or 3-part harmonies.

The summer staff moved today from the little cabin we were staying in with no bathrooms or storage space into a really nice building known as the apartments with several rooms, a living room, a little kitchen and a couple bathrooms. It’s so nice. Perhaps the best part is that we get the internet in here. Most of the time I won’t be here because I’ll be staying in a cabin whenever I’m assigned to a group, but this will be home base for my extra stuff and a place to stay during time off. We hiked up Cedar Mountain yesterday, which was really pretty. I get cell service up there, so in the future some of my time off will be spent hiking up there to make phone calls.

The food is not bad at all, so I’m eating three whole meals a day for the first time in a long time. I’m adjusting to the schedule, too. I’ve never been a morning person by any means, but now I’m up between 7 and 7:30 every morning. As the summer progresses, I’ll probably start getting up even earlier. I think this summer is going to be really good for me, physically, spiritually, and emotionally. I’m challenging myself in a lot of ways, being separated from people in my life and giving things up that I think will really help my personal growth in the long run. I think I’m right where God wants me to be.

Basically, things are pretty awesome.

LVR-Day 3

Training is going well and the staff members are really starting to develop relationships. I have my camp nickname- Tiger Lily. We were going for an Indian name, and the lily is my favorite flower and of course the tiger is a tribute to Mizzou. It’s a little long, so some people are calling me TL, and Hawkeye calls me Tiger.

We learned about facilitating initiatives on the low challenge courses today, and we’ll be practicing facilitating initiatives tomorrow. We have until next weekend before our first group of campers comes. There’s a lot of information to take in during training, but hopefully I’m getting it all. I’m a little bit nervous still, but feel way more confident than I did on day one.

Colorado is generally arid, but we’ve had lots of rain so far. Unlike Missouri’s downpours, it’s generally soft, light rain, so we just go out in it most of the time. It’s made fire-building more of a challenge, but with the help of some fire starter provided by Double M we got a pretty good one going tonight. Some of us sat by the fire for a couple hours after campfire worship ended. We talked about life and shared our different philosophies on a wide variety of topics including relationships, smoking, farting, sports, ghosts v. demons, Lord of the Rings, cologne… well, you get the picture. I love fire and random discussions, so it was pretty cool.

Today was the first day I didn’t get a chance to talk to Michael. I guess he was already asleep by the time we put out the fire and I headed up to the lodge. There will be many more to come. Once we have campers and I’m not able to get on the internet I’ll have to start writing letters. In a way, it can be an exciting experience for us- bringing it back to snail mail. I’ve been holding out, hoping he might actually get online still, but it’s getting rather late. It’s almost 12:00 here and I still have to shower, and get up really early in the morning. I guess it’s time to give in.

I apologize to anyone who stumbles across this post and isn’t a good friend of mine- I imagine it’s rather dull for you. Having no phone, this is the easiest way for me to communicate with everyone who might be wondering what I’m up to. All of my posts this summer will probably be more or less updates.

LVR

I wanted to write another post before leaving for Colorado, but now I just don’t have time. My flight leaves very early in the morning, so I need to get off to bed. I likely won’t be writing much this summer as I’ll only be online occasionally. I’m looking forward to the escape from the patterns of everyday life, excited to be totally immersed in the mountains, in fellowship with other staffers, witnessing to the campers, and praising God continually. I’m nervous about the unknown and the people (and rabbit) I’m leaving behind. I don’t know what to expect, but I’m counting on a life-changing summer. If I have time, I will chronicle my experiences as the summer progresses.

Off I go!

Anticipating goodbye

“Please save this for me. I’ll come back for you, love, I promise to. Please save this for me for until I return my love will burn, and my heart will stay.” -Ludo, Please

The date of my departure is approaching. The months have flown by. The weekends were few and busy. The weeks remaining turned to days. I’m starting to get nervous as I realize that there’s precious little time left for me to see Michael before I leave for Colorado.

Working at Lutheran Valley Retreat will be amazing! Spending the summer serving God in the mountains of Colorado is an absolute dream come true. But spending three solid months separated from Michael (and my family and Meredith and everyone that I know) by 830 miles and no cell phone reception sounds more like a nightmare.

I’m trying not to freak out too much. These things are never as hard as I anticipate. In junior high I was worried that high school would be terrible because we wouldn’t have the same classes and would be too busy. That was ridiculous of me. Then I was terrified that we would break up when we went off to different colleges, or that we would hardly ever see each other. It hasn’t been the easiest, but it hasn’t been anywhere near what I dreaded and we see each other almost every weekend. This will definitely be the farthest and longest separation for us to deal with.

I have no doubt that we can handle it, I just don’t know how painful it will be. But I’ll be constantly busy (and doing awesome stuff)- I’ll hardly have time to sit around pining over him. There will be internet access, so we can chat online and email each other on my days off. Maybe I’ll even get some love letters like back in the old days (hint, hint). Maybe if I’m really lucky, he’ll drive or fly to visit me for a weekend when I’m off. Carpool with Jon and Anita? Or my parents?

Hey, it won’t be so bad, right? Absence makes the heart grow fonder, right? Though if my heart grows much fonder, it might melt into a puddle of fondness. On the bright side, after a summer in Colorado the distance between Columbia and Rolla will seem like a short walk. I’ll probably bike there

Instead of mulling over what it will be like, I will pray, trust God, and wait. God has a way of showing up when you do that. I prayed that he would open and close the right doors so that Michael and I both end up exactly where we belong this summer. Michael had a chance to work at LVR also, but he got an internship in MO that will probably be a good career move for him. I expected that he would take it, so I wasn’t taken off guard. I’m trusting that that’s where God wants him to be, so I know everything will be okay. If you think of me in your prayers, pray for peace. I’ve always been bad at waiting on the plan. And so I reflect on my favorite verse, and remind myself that God’s timing is not my timing.

“For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.” Jeremiah 29:11

Tales from the Crypt: Flooding Adventure

“The sky opened and rain come pouring down on the earth, and the basement of our house flooded.” -Genesis 7:11-12 (Modified)

It’s happened before, but that hardly lessens the impact. First a little rain, then more. Then a torrential downpour assaults the saturated earth with rivers it cannot contain. At first, we receive the rain joyfully. At Meredith’s beckoning (I’ve raised her right), Emily, Alex, and I cast off what we are doing and join her for an evening frolic. We splash in the gutters. We dance in the street. We return- soaked, shivering, and happy.

Then, the inevitable. Meredith ventures downstairs to discover that the cracked foundation has yet again failed to hold back the waters. Streams have washed across the concrete of the “creepy basement,” soaked under the wall, and saturated Meredith’s carpet. We remove all the valuables to the other side of the room and call Shelley, not expecting much. In our two years here, landlords have not exactly jumped at our complaints.

This time is different.

Tuberculosis

I had to get a physical for my summer job, and part of it is a test to make sure I don’t have tuberculosis. They stabbed me with a short, fat needle and injected something or another that made a bubble under my skin. Now it’s a little bruised hole that makes me look like a druggie with track marks. Tomorrow I have to go back in and show them my arm to prove I haven’t had a reaction. A reaction would mean that I have or have had tuberculosis.

This is stupid- I know I don’t have tuberculosis. But let’s say for entertainment’s sake that I do have tuberculosis. I’m pretty sure I’d be feeling pretty sick, but this is a fantasy so let’s also say that in this hypothetical situation tuberculosis has no noticeable symptoms except that I’m gonna die in a month. Let’s also say that tuberculosis is not contagious (which is a total lie).

Tuberculosis is kind of a fun word, so the first thing I’d do is go get it tattooed on myself.

Sunshine and ponies!

{My critics have accused me of being too descriptive and emo. I always aim to please, so I will strive to make this a happy story with little to no adjectives or adverbs. Enjoy!}

She awakes with a smile. The sun is shining and birds are singing. “Another day!” she exclaims. She puts on her favorite yellow sun dress and skips to class. “It’s 65 degrees outside,” her professor says, “I’m canceling class. Go celebrate!”

“Yay!” she shouts. She plays with puppies all day in the park. Then she skips back home.

The journey of a day

{Fiction or non-fiction? Perhaps a bit of both dangerously intermingled into one story that’s mostly almost about me. Take it with a grain of salt, whatever that really means.}

She worshiped the glowing screen, petitioning it for the fellowship she desperately desired. “Facebook helps you connect and share with the people in your life…” Yes, yes, sign in. Remember me. Please. Three new notifications and a message. Two event invitations. But as she clicked from one to the next, she realized with great disappointment that they were nothing, sent by name-and-face nobodies, trifles from vague acquaintances. If only he weren’t so far away. Far, nothing! She hadn’t known real distance yet, but she would.

But physical distance wasn’t what tugged at her, what kept pulling her back time and again to the virtual vortex. It was a different kind of distance- one far deeper and less tangible. She couldn’t describe it, though she sharply felt it, and so she often wondered whether it weren’t all in her head. After all, weren’t emotions mere personal constructs? If she decided it wasn’t so, willed it away strongly enough, it would cease to taunt her. She needed only to try harder.