snowy peaks.

It's been a long time since I've posted, mostly because I've been... doing other things! But I'm happy to give family and friends a glimpse of life at L'Abri and to let people know what's going on here.

This isn't the typical college graduate's experience after commencement. Many of my friends at home are dealing with the pressures of rent and jobs, time and money, and wondering how to carve out meaningful relationships in new places. Well, that last part is a universal struggle. All the same, I don't feel like I necessarily am struggling with the same types of things up here on this mountain. It kind of feels like you're looking with a bird's eye view on the rest of life or something. But, I AM dealing with personal issues which I wouldn't have time to think about if I wasn't here taking shelter.

For instance, in retrospect, there were some things about the Wheaton College community that were either unrealistic or downright intoxicating (by which I mean, um, poisonous). The student body at Wheaton tends to be comprised of a very homogeneous demographic, which include white upper middle class Protestants who tend to work very hard and be very good looking. There's nothing wrong with any of those things, but spend enough time in one place and your perspective on normality starts to get shaped in a certain direction.

It's nice to be at L'Abri because of the diversity of thought represented here. There are a number of people that have so fried their brains using marijuana and other kinds of drugs and alcohol they can no longer form complete thoughts and their attention spans are shot. If ever I was tempted, I'm not really anymore. BUT, I LOVE that L'Abri is a shelter for those kinds of people. There's divorcees and people who are depressed and smart people and people who have no specific psychosis at all. Grown ups and young people, teenagers and 20-somethings. Not quite the gamut, but definitely more diverse than Wheaton was.

Things that I've been doing:
1) Cutting everyone's hair. I don't know quite why, but I've been donned the role as the resident barber. I'm okay at it. I sort of think anyone can give an *okay* haircut, I guess I've just practiced enough on Kathryn to not be afraid of screwing up anymore.
2) Hiking in beautiful places. I mean BEAUTIFUL places. I look around sometimes when I'm hiking or on a walk and I'm amazed at how I'm living in the very place my mind conjures up when I'm daydreaming in Wheaton.
3) Cooking a lot of bread. From no recipe at all. Booyah.
4) Cleaning and weeding and making friends: good ones.
5) Reading about aesthetics, wondering if taste is or is not debatable.

Okay, I'm going to sign off now, and hopefully leave a more compelling post later, but I thought I should check in for those of you that keep asking why I don't post. :)