Going on the Colorado!

 

I am getting ready to go on my very first river trip down the Colorado River. It’s for work, so luckily I am going with people I know very well, it’s free, and I get to actually help participate in the science I edit on a daily basis. We’re leaving Friday, and I’ll hike out the following Friday (the 13^th, and let me tell you, I am super excited because I love Friday the 13^th. It’s a great day and I have had some great things happen to me on those days). I have always wanted to go on a trip, but my old boss wouldn’t let me—“it wasn’t part of my job” she said. Well, I am sorry, but I have to totally disagree with that statement. I work for a science organization that focuses strictly on the Grand Canyon and its natural resources. I read, write, and edit documents about fish, without ever having seen the fish that live in the canyon. Luckily, my new boss agrees that it is something I have to do and part of the job. I’ll have a better understanding of the river by going on this trip.

My partner has been on the river once before, and he’s extremely excited for me. That’s one of the things I value so much in our partnership—the excitement we have for the other person when they are about to do something fun, and we’re not able to attend with them. I have been co-dependent for most of my life, and my partner is someone who cannot have that co-dependency in his. So I’ve learned to not be so co-dependent in this relationship, which I am grateful for. Of course, I slip occasionally in my co-dependent tendencies, but for the most part, I’ve learned to just do things I want to do, when I want to do them, with whoever wants to do them. If that’s my partner, awesome, if it is a girlfriend, awesome. Our lives have become incredibly busy that last week, we hardly spent much time together. That’s fine, because I know we’ll connect when the craziness of the week settles down. It’s a hard adjustment to make, and I do struggle with it sometimes, but I also know that just because we may not spend much time together, doesn’t mean our love for one another decreases. And for me, that’s been one of the biggest things to have learned.

So, the river. I am STOKED! Like, really, really, excited. Everyone keeps telling me how amazing it is going to be and how much fun I am going to have. I am doing just the first half, which is called Marble Canyon. It’s the prettiest (according to everyone here) and it’s the coolest (temperature wise. Once you get far West in the canyon, the temperature spikes past 110 most days in the summer).  I am looking forward to having some river time, meditating, writing my experiences, catching fish, and just learning all that I can, while also enjoying the sheer beauty of it all.

I’ve been so ridiculously busy this past month and a half, that I can’t believe it is already September. It was two months ago that I volunteered for this trip, and it is now here, in three days. And I am so blissed out already, I can’t even imagine what I am going to be like when we actually get on the river. The cook, Caroline, is really good and pointing things out and giving explanations of things, so I will learn so much about the canyon itself and see things that I’ve only dreamed about.

I look forward to sharing my journey with you. I plan on bringing a journal to keep track of all that I do, see, and experience, and will hopefully be able to share some of those blurbs with you. Until then…