WARPed!

Here's what happens when you've been WARPed....I let fellow WARP07 grad Laura Hersh paint my face at graduation on Saturday. It was my first face-painting adventure.

Pretty cool, huh? Who would have expected such wild behavior from me? Nobody...that's who.

That's why I'm particularly happy to have taken the chance and changed my life. It's very empowering to do something that you don't think you can - and that no one expects. Change is good.

As I listened to WARP08 spokesperson Carolyn Temes tell of her adventures, I realized that it's neccessary to do wild and crazy things. She's about my age, and struggled with the program, as I did. She came through it with class and courage. I hope I did as well.

It's a grand thing to take on an adventure that some folks think is too risky, too wild, too crazy. It's a grander thing to come out the other side with the confidence that success brings.

As I watched Carolyn introduce her family to her clan, I saw that her sister, her husband, and both her children were looking at her with respect and awe. That's a good thing.

Life brings changes, challenges and opportunities. Take 'em on...

So, How Did I Loose Those 20 Pounds?

I've been seeing a chiropractor for recurring shoulder and neck pain, which was exacerbated by the move. Books are heavy, and I know better, but still I get in a hurry and use bigger boxes than I should. One of the keys to my recovery is going to be walking.

I love to walk. Always have. When I came out to the Residential Program, I had gotten lazy aoubt it. The excuse was that my feet hurt. Badly. Long days of moving medical supplies at full tilt on a concrete floor had abused my poor feet, and I stopped walking for fun. That's when I started to gain weight. I spent many evenings after work with my feet proped up on pillows.

One of the best things about quitting the job I'd had for 25 years was being able to take better care of myself. In the Residential Program, we walked. Up hills, mostly, and with backpacks. I took to carryng about 25 pounds of stuff - water, lunch, field guides, and extra clothing - every where I went while in class. At first, I could barely make it up the hills...I was out of breath and my legs shook. As I got stronger, it got easier. My feet didn't hurt anymore, and I could handle the hills. I was never the fastest "kid" in the class, but I stopped being the last one to get to the top of the hill...or back to the vans.

Our first field trip to the Oregon Dunes had me convinced I'd never make it...the sand dunes were brutal. I had to have help getting to the top. The entire class was cheering me on as I crawled up the final 20 feet or so. Then Andrew reached down and pulled me up to the top. I knew then that I would make it through the year. It wasn't the last time I needed help, but it was the last time I thought about quiting the program.

As we hiked the mountains of western Washington, my feet got tougher, my legs stronger, and I lost about 20 pounds. By December, I was in pretty good shape. If I fell too far behind, it was becasue I'd stopped to look at something cool.

Since graduation, I've gotten lazy again. My Monroe neighborhood was getting kind of scarey to walk in. Without a dog to walk, I just didn't get out much. I started to gain back the pounds I'd lost.

Now, under doctor's orders, and in a new neighborhood, I'm walking again. I haven't put the pack on yet, but by summer I plan to be ready for some serious hiking.

So What Got Me On That Airplane, Anyway?

I've been negligent in explaining how I came to be on that airplane in my first blog post. I was interviewing for a Women In The Outdoors position , a job that I'd been pursuing for a couple of years. It was my 2nd interview with them.

Shortly after I was divorced, we started a local chapter of the National Wild Turkey Federation in Butler, Missouri. I was elected secretary of our chapter, and eventually spent a year as chapter president. One of my favorite parts was in coordinating a Women In The Outdoors Skills Day at Adrian a few miles to the north.

I'd only attended one such event, in southern Kansas the previous year, and it was the key to my being brave enough to come to Washington later. In fact, that trip of less than a hundred miles was my very first road trip as solo driver. I wanted to go so badly that I taught myself to drive on Highway 71 even though it scared me to death. I'll tell you about that another time.

The important part of today's story is that I began to apply for jobs in the Women In The Outdoors program. After about a year, I was called to go to the national headquarters in Edgefield, South Carolina for an interview. My sister Susan went with me on that trip, and there are tales to tell...having 3 teenagers, she was up to the task of teaching me to drive across country. Our adventures in the South are yet another story, and a prequel to our trip to Washington. If I stop to tell it now, I'll never get on that plane.

The last couple of months in the Residential Program were intense with Scout Camp and the Survival Trip leading to our graduation in early June. And I knew that there was a regional position open in the Women In The Outdoors program. It was for Arkansas/Louisiana, and I knew that my Mom and Susan, who had both moved to Arkansas, would be...annoyed... if I didn't at least apply for it. I did, and then pretty much forgot about it. In our final week as Rezzies, I got a call on my cell phone. They wanted to interview me...in Little Rock...the week after graduation! I didn't have time to drive...I could only see one way to get there, and I didn't like it.

Now here's the cool part...when my fellow Rezzies - my clan- found out about my dilemma, they started talking to me. Todd was the first to ask how I was doing that day. We were down near the Cable Tree among the tall Cedars (Thuja plicata) and the Sword Fern (Polystichum munitum) waiting for the others to catch up. By now, I knew I could absolutly trust my clan. I confessed that I was thinking of passing up the interview for my dream job because I was afraid to fly. Todd flies a lot. If he has any scary airplane stories, he did not tell me. Other Rezzies gathered around. Filip, Heather, and Laura were especially encouraging. Not one person came up with a bad flight experience. Every single one told me I could do it, that I'd be great at the job. Every single one of them encouraged me to try.

So, I got on the plane, changed at Ft. Worth, then landed in Little Rock...did the interview, which seemed to go well...and returned to Seattle wishing I didn't have to leave. In 2 days, I had 4 take-offs and 4 landings. And knew that, whatever the result of the interview, I'd passed yet another milestone in one short year. Kingfisher!