School Is Out For Summer!!!

The 2007-2008 school year has come to an end, which means that the summer mind-set has arrived for me. I decided to kick off this year's break with a little beach camping at El Capitan State Beach (check out the pictures for the views). I had a great time enjoying the natural beauty, the camping atmosphere, and the good company that I enjoyed on the quick excursion. I was so wrapped up in finding the perfect locations for photographs that I literally ignored what was around me, until after I got the shot. . . that is when I noticed that the little pathways I was trudging through were full of poison oak. This is nothing new for me--I've had poison oak before and a heck of a lot worse. This time around I simply have some spots of the poison dotting my arms and a little around my eyes--it doesn't even seem to bother me, other than making me look funny. The worst case I have ever had was in 1999 when I literally left the path and went running through bushes of poison oak. . . that time I got it so bad that I had to call in sick from work for over a week, all the while laying in bed because I was covered in blisters that would ooze non-stop. I even had to go the to doctor on that occasion and have steroids injected into me in order to help with the healing process--crazy!
Needless to say, I had written a poem about it back in January of 1999:

THE MARK OF LOVERS LOST
I had a love of nature and still rightfully so,
Wherein I dance within her arms
And follow her sweet flow.
I bent with her sweet body and stroked her hair so fine,
'Twas an exquisite gesture,
But her's was not to mine.
She scoffed me rather cruely and slapped me on the arm
And sent me on my merry way
Believing there's no harm.
I gloried in her presence and dreamt of her that night
And rose up in the morning with
Her kiss of scorn and spite.
For she had left upon me the mark of lovers lost
Wherein I'm left to itch and scratch
The measure of her cost.
And though her poison's in me and spreads like wild-fire,
It is her love that's spoken of
And not the pain required.

Anyhow, now that beach camping is done, I am spending the next few days fixing up and painting my parents' house. And then it is off on a road-trip to see my 100 year old grandmother and whatever other adventures I dream up on the way to and from Salt Lake City!
I love summer! It is great to be out of work without being OUT OF WORK, if you know what I mean.
I hope that all of your summer's are as eventful and that you enjoy it. Give me a holler if you are looking for something to do--if I am in town, then I am certainly game.