First assignment, Ben's political introduction. As I turned around entering the voting precinct, I knew I had been followed. Somehow, he had quick stepped his grandmother and was right on my heels. The disguise wasn't complete for he still had the gait of a young Frankenstein. All is on the surface if you happen to be two.
As I filled out my paperwork to vote, the silver haired ladies focused. He was an immediate darling of the group. The first lady at the end of the table wanted to talk to him. He raced over to her and grabbed the drink sitting on her table and finished it. So much for that conversation.
This is the first January I've stayed in Michigan in three years. In previous years, I've returned to broken pipes, a shut down furnace, and various other difficulties. I awoke this morning to a minus 22 degrees, but I had heat, light, and water in abundance.
One of my goals has been to earn my winter merit badge. Somehow, I felt it slipping away. My re-occurring thought was, "If not now, when?" I mulled this over while I did the dishes and admired the sun shinning on the snow at a positive five degrees.
By way of explanation, ( I love this phrase ) I wasn't sure how one went about earning a merit badge. I had a few ideas and thought as I worked them out perhaps the path would become clear. I did know that I have to stay put for the month to really begin.
With any goal, as one gets closer, the approach-avoidance syndrome springs forward like a wrench dropping into a Luddite's grip. How can we seize up the machinery? Not to worry, there is more than enough forces available to seize up the gears.
Like an old fashion movie, the calendar page tore by, in the wink of an eye. February found me in a better position. Native Americans used sweat lodges in pursuit of mystery goals, so perhaps this functioned as a background assistant.
In this situation, for novelty sake, I tried a different tack, grunge. I had to stand still and not exit until I completed my goal and toughed it out. After all, we all know, to arrive at the other side of the forest, we have to walk through it.
Dawn's cold realization was that all of my life I had been trying to avoid winter. Well that can't be done if it blocks your path. To get to the other side of winter, I had to go through it. No detour.
Now the month of May sheds new light, plus its warmer too. Last weekend I split wood, and now I'm carrying water from the river to the cabin. Split wood, carry water. The answer was at the Outpost the whole time. I just had to stick around long enough to stumble over it.
