Happy 4th (sort of, more like a rant)....

So. I have a new, terrible, office-bound job. Stuck inside four walls, artificial lighting, low pay, and crappy chairs.  It's now 100,000,000 more important to me to go hiking and spend time outdoors whenever I can. Since I've got to work to pay the bills, and can't spend 8 hours a day outside, I've got to use my time wisely and go do what I really love whenever I have a free moment.

I packed up a bit of my stuff and planned for a trip from Friday-Tuesday.  One by one, most of my friends bailed on me and Greg and the dogs.  They didn't bail on us earlier in the week, like Tuesday, or even the night before (Thursday). You know, when it would be polite to bail on people...They bailed on Friday, a day I had planned on us ALREADY being in the middle of the wilderness, scratching poison ivy, eating crappy trail food, enjoying some of the most amazing parts of the American Southwest.

El Morro National Monument, New Mexico.

My husband doesn't like it when I hike alone, but considering everyone I know out here just doesn't want to do the outdoor stuff I want to do, I'm getting fed up.  I don't have anything in common with any of my friends and it prevents me from going out and doing the things I want to do, especially when what I want to do (hike/camp) gets infringed on by other people bailing on me....

I have more in common with the people from 1850's that wrote their names into El Morro.

It really hurt to get bailed on, but we tried to make do, and another set of friends were able to join us for part of the trip. They're young, and I can't fault them for being young and being a little more into a fast-paced fun and partying that this chubby old hiker can't keep up with, so I didn't mind it that they took off in the middle of the trip. Heck, maybe if I got to go out and hike/camp more, I could keep up with these younger folks, but who knows. I had a great time while they were there.

I tried to encourage my husband (and my tired dogs) to keep the adventure going. But with all that's gone (and still going) wrong this weekend, I feel totally defeated. All I want to do is be outdoors, it's pretty much all I think about these days. Not stuck at home, surrounding by things, useless hobbies, video games or TV to fill that void I could be hiking, climbing, walking, shooting (photography), resting, breathing, LIVING out in the wilderness.

I've seen the beauty in the world, and I want to keep seeing it. And I'm getting rather crank-a-potamus about it, so I'm going to stop myself now and leave you with this photo and a bit of wisdom.  I can only think of a very small handful of things in this world GREATER than witnessing beauty like this in the world. If you ever want to gain a couple hundred feet in elevation, get pretty bad sunburn, and be in total, speechless awe, we should be friends.

The top of El Morro National Monument, New Mexico.

I'm going to try and have a better 4th, and possibly make the effort to make more of my weekends
"count" -so let's hope I'm not so cranky tomorrow and can actually write about just how cool El Morro and El Malpais in New Mexico are!

I'm on top of El Morro, and you are not.