March brought many different challenges and experiences with it. During the beginning of the month, I felt as if I was having phantom hangovers. My friend Kate asked if I ate a lot of sugar, and I guess I do sometimes as I love having a handful of dark chocolate chips for a snack after dinner most nights. That might be part of the reason I felt hung-over without the affects of alcohol, but I also might have been feeling the pains that come with depression.
As I might have mentioned, Makenna brought home three colds from school over the past three months. I managed to dodge the first one, got hammered by the second one, and picked up a small part of the third one. The feeling of being ill, the rainy weather and low light conditions can easily bring on a batch of the Seasonal Affective Disorder, something that I have been affected with before, like the two winters I spent in Iceland. Like the commercial says, "Depression Hurts, Cymbalta can help."
I'm feeling much better now. We spent eight days touring the Desert Southwest of the United States last week. Our trip started in Las Vegas where we picked up our rental car and drove to St. George, Utah. The next morning, we drove through Zion National Park and the Virgin River basin to get to Lake Powell and Page, Arizona. It was nice to have 40-degree mornings and sunshine with daytime highs reaching the 60s. The affect of the constant sunlight on our eyes was wonderful, and I'd have to admit that the time leading up to the trip was challenging as I was coming out of a low-state from the colds and winter weather in Portland, and worrying about our trip. This might be one of the reasons I was having a hard time finding the motivation to write in my blog. Nevertheless, I committed a short time back to only write when I feel moved to write here.
During the past month, I've been playing my ARMA 2 Operation Arrowhead game with my buddies, although the break away from it has been nice. ARMA is a military simulator that involves combat, logistics, strategy, and teamwork. I enjoy playing it and have many friends from around the world that have become good allies through this game. Below is a link to a video of one of our missions where I landed a damaged Blackhawk safely after being hit by a rocket propelled grenade in Fallujah, Iraq.
Emergency Landing in Fallujah
You may have noticed I haven't posted in a while. We spent eight days in Utah, Arizona, and Nevada in March. Seeing the sun each day is something we take for granted sometimes, and living in the Pacific Northwest, we often don't realize how much the sun affects us. Our trip to the Desert Southwest was a great break away from the rain and darkness.
We flew into Las Vegas and rented a car to drive to St. George, UT. The second day on the road, we visited Zion National Park, Grand Staircase Escalante National Monument, and Glen Canyon Dam/Lake Powell. We stayed in Page, and it was very nice to be outside with 60 degree weather and sunshine. The next day we drove to Kayenta and visited Monument Valley. Leaving Kayenta, we stopped at Navajo National Monument and saw magnificent cliff dwellings. After a night in Winslow, AZ and seeing Meteor Crater, we stayed three nights in Sedona, AZ and visited a wildlife park where we fed Giraffes carrots by hand. The Last day, we drove to the Grand Canyon in a blizzard and saw the canyon better via IMAX Film. But after the movie at the IMAX theater, we drove to the rim again and caught a few views of the canyon with snow on the rim. After staying our last night in Flagstaff, we awoke to a flat tire, and 23 degrees with ice and snow. We managed to get on the road an hour and a half late and got to our airplane with 3 minutes to spare. This made the last day the most stressful. Below are a few photos from the trip.
Being in the forest for three months now, I've rediscovered the magic of being in the forest. Perhaps alcohol numbed the senses and I had missed the natural wonders of the forest. Good sleep, more energy, and increased awareness are a few of the benefits of my journey. One quarter the way through, I've realized that I still have a long way to go!
Don
