first…

semester of grad school was a little tough. what the heck am i thinking??? that i can actually work fulltime+ and go to school? and get what needs getting done like life stuff: laundry, cat care, chores, etc. 9 credits is alot to attempt. a little too much. this week, after 2 finals and one paper (how i hate papers), i’ll be done and ready for more. plan to take one more course and then take fall off and start all over again in jan 2018. 2018. such an odd number to write…

time.
keeps happening.
and as it goes by, i notice how i need to make the font bigger so that i can read words better. i’m exhausted more easily now, my legs and feet and back get sore more easily.. i guess 12 hour shifts are partly responsible but heck, it wasn’t that long ago that i could handle it…not so anymore.

my body hurts. i do love the course work. i love what i’m learning. soon enough, i’ll be able to say good bye to my career in veterinary medicine.
~~~
this year’s birthday trip won’t be abroad, can’t spare the cash. so, i’m heading west. the destination? moab, utah. the reason? the nightsky. planning to fly into salt lake city, stay the night (do a little city touring and then head to the hotel). next day, pick up rental car and drive south taking the scenic route to moab and stay there. will visit the various surrounding parks as much as i can, but the goal is to see that beautiful and unhindered by city/town lights night sky…

where did i get the idea? sunday mornings with charles osgood had a segment on the nightsky parks where folks have access to telescopes to view the beauty up above. also, my last night in genneville france, up before the crack of dawn, out in horsefarm land, i got up, checked out and proceeded to go down to the car to load my luggage. lo and behold, i looked up and WOW. i’ve never seen so many stars. it was a breathtaking moment. i hated leaving that little b&b. the drive to Rouen was okay until i got into the city and promptly got lost. eventually found my way, returned the car and headed to the train station for my trip to Amsterdam (cheers to the people of the Netherlands and France for having the intelligence in their elections and for avoiding the disgraceful fall the USA has experienced).

anyhow, back to the night sky. i’m going. i’ll be armed with my camera, a journal to write some memories (something i’ve done for my trips to florence, rome, barcelona, montserrat, madrid, avila, figueres, cadaques, inverness, dublin, london, bath, stratford upon avon, paris, genneville, normandy beaches, haarlem, and amsterdam) and also will have on hand a beginner telecope (birthday present to myself).

moab, utah…my search to see the beautiful continues…
https://www.visitutah.com/things-to-do/dark-sky-parks