Great Hike and Lovely Willow

Now here is a lovely looking sunny day....too bad it's only 20 degrees. So that leaves me sitting inside wasting time on the internet and wishing spring were here. I've had enough of this winter! Cabin fever has set in and while hope remains that I will not become permanently crazy, I am still feeling rather wily.

I had the opportunity to enjoy the nice weather yesterday by getting out for a hike at Three Creeks. I had been wanting to go back out there for quite a while. It was one of the first places Owl took me when I first came to CoMo and I had only been back once with Rabbit and Wolf last summer. I had been really wanting to explore it more. I went with a friend and his lady, who turned out to be not quite hardcore hiker material, but she endured it rather well without complaint. Along the way we ran into a fellow hiker who was looking for the cave I had been wondering about. (The cave that Owl and I just happened to have a little romp in ;-). I couldn't recall exactly how we had gotten there and it wasn't on the provided map. So, he invited us to come along with him to find it (he had one of those fancy GPS dealios) and me being the adventurous type, was all for it. My friends agreed and off we went! It didn't take us too long to find, although it took us a while to problem solve our creek crossing, but we made it without getting very wet. My friends ended up heading back before getting to the cave. I was sorry they had to miss it, but maybe another time. It was just as cool as I remembered, although we stayed out considering this is the time of the year when the bats are hibernating (don't want to disturb them). Then I helped my new found friend find a cache, as apparently he's into geocaching. We quickly found it, wrote in the logbook, took a few pictures and were on our way.

So this guy....we ended up talking during the whole hike. It was really enjoyable! We seem to have a lot in common, at the very least we both really enjoying hiking. I felt like we made a good connection, and that makes me happy. Making connections like that with like-minded folks doesn't happen too often, so it's always a really great feeling when it does happen. We both were interested in going hiking together again, so we exchanged information. Woo hiking buddies! I'm VERY excited about this, it's been a while since I've had a good hiking buddy. While I enjoy going by myself at times, it can make a hike much more enjoyable if the company is right. I talked with Willow later in the evening and she claims it is serendipity.

Speaking of Willow...I very much enjoyed our conversation we had last night. Lately we've been able to relate to each other quite well. We've both been in some very similar relationships over the years, it's actually a little odd how many. Sometimes it's as if we are the only people we know who can relate to us and understand us as well (if that makes sense...) Talking with her always makes me miss having awesome women around me, good, strong, loving and compassionate women who give a damn. So, thank you Willow for being so awesome! I miss you babe!

Fun in St. Louis

Last week I headed to St. Louis for several days for a much needed break from the monotony and frustration of the mundane world. Most of the week I spent with Pine at his cute, cozy house in the 'burbs, just relaxing and enjoying getting to know him more. It is much quieter at his house than mine, so I had lots of good, uninterrupted sleep and I slept in quite late most mornings, which was rather unintentional, but nice for a change. We geeked out a lot with jigsaw puzzles, video games, looking stuff up on Wikipedia and playing with legos. There were plenty of other kinds of fun as well, but I will spare you all the details...

One afternoon Pine and I went to Laumeier Sculpture Park, which was lots of fun. We just wandered all about and climbed on things we weren't supposed to climb on. I'm actually in one of the sculptures at the park in this photo. It was a nice, warm afternoon and I had fun wandering about and playing in the woods with Pine. We were a little spontaneous after the park and decided to head down to the loop to meet up with Willow, whom I just had to see while I was in town! On the way, Pine showed me one of his favorite spots on the WashU campus, "the tree". It was a nice little spot to relax for a bit. So, I met up with Willow and we ate at the awesome falafel place that we both love and had some girl time to catch up before Pine came back (he went home to collect his fire gear). It was great! The food was good too, mmmtabbouleh.... Then Pine and Willow were introduced, and it went well. I think she already has a higher opinion of Pine than she does of Owl. That's not very shocking really.

Then it was fire time! We met up with one of Pine's friends and they played with their fire toys while Willow and I watched and giggled. It was so awesome! I had of course seen Pine eat fire before, but this was the first time I had seen him spin poi. I was quite impressed, and even more turned on ;-) There are some photos on my flickr, although they definitely don't convey the excitement of watching fire spinning in person, but...they'll do. Both Pine and his friend were fun to watch, they performed some pretty neat tricks. It was just a nice evening getting to spend some time with Willow and being so graciously entertained by Pine and his cool friend. I was quite happy that Willow and Pine got along so well. It seems she thinks he is a good pick, yay!

The next evening, Friday, Pine and I stayed in and had fun together. We rolled for a little while, and it was definitely an experience. I didn't feel the physical sensations as strongly as I expected, but I definitely opened up more emotionally. We spent a lot of time talking and being totally honest. It was as if the barriers I have put up were temporarily broken down. I got a little emotional about Owl and clued Pine in on some of what I have been feeling, things I had been keeping quiet about. I think he was surprised at a sudden, unexpected outpouring of emotion. I don't know if I was ready or not to tell him those things, but...I don't feel regret. In that moment I felt very safe, and comfortable with Pine. It was reassuring that he was very much in that moment with me and was able to share with me as well. I think we've had similar experiences with love, and for some reason that made me feel glad. He has never made me feel bad for still loving someone else, nor has he ever made me feel pressured to do or say or be anything. Also, there is nothing expected, and that is a good feeling. So far we have just been in the moment, and that is working rather well. So, back to Friday night...mostly we just sat on the couch in candlelight listening to chill music and enjoying each other. We talked a lot, about a lot of things I don't remember, and of course touched a lot. We had picked up some strawberries earlier in the evening and they were a very good investment. I've never had more fun being fed strawberries, or feeding strawberries to someone else. Mmm! :-D

It was a GREAT week, I so needed to get away from my little world here, as it can really bring me down sometimes. It wasn't too hard coming back, but our little fake world really is mundane.

Exploring Rocky Fork and Friend Time

The past few days have been absolutely beautiful, so I have been making sure to take advantage! I want to enjoy this weather as much as I can before winter comes. So on Saturday, I had a wild hair to get out and explore some. A good friend of mine had told me how cool it is out at Rocky Fork, which is where Rabbit, Wolf, Owl and I would always go swimming in the summer. I had only been as far as the swimming hole, so I wanted to wander farther and see what I found. It was so nice! I didn't get out there until 3 or so, but it was a good time. The light was perfect, the sun kept me warm and I still had plenty of time for exploring. I found all sorts of great little nooks and peaceful spots. It was so nice to just be able to wander about wherever I fancied to go, mostly off the road. I took so many photos, so I'll just let those do most of the talking. I really enjoyed the time alone, although I do love going hiking with friends.

Yesterday evening I went walking on the Bear Creek Trail with Rabbit. While she ran, I wandered about listening to and watching the birds, picking a lovely autumn bouquet and just enjoying the crisp evening. We walked together some and had some good girl time. I don't think either one of us has totally realized that Rabbit is leaving so soon! I'm trying to get in as much time with my beloved Rabbit as I can. I won't be able to see her again until next summer, which seems entirely too long! I'm already looking forward to visiting her and Wolf though, we've already made plans ;-) After our walk, we went back to her house and hung out with Wolf all evening. We played a game of Outburst, us girls against Wolf, and we won, despite the fact that I wasn't even paying attention half the time because I was a little out of it...ha. I love those guys!

Also, yesterday I finally got to catch up with my dearest Willow (a.k.a. Alpaca Son). It was so nice! I am so grateful for her, and so happy that we understand each other so well. Relationships like that are the stuff of a good life. It's such a huge part of being human!