55 miles. Schuylkill Haven PA to Harrisburg, PA
Scratch yesterday's post. Today was officially the best day yet of bike and build.
So because yesterday we had seen a ton of yard sales but never stopped, Meryl and I today firmly decided to stop at one no matter what. It was only a few miles out where two huge stuffed monkeys advertising one. It was here that I met Red Velvet. Lying amongst a rack of women's skirts and blouses it's red crocheting caught my eye and never let go. At first I noticed it and laughed but then when i failed to find anything else i thought, "Wait, why wouldn't buy a ridiculous hot red, form-fitting, see-through women's sweater"
The wonderful sisters Gale and Lisa were not quite expecting my decision to say the least but gladly donated it. As if my day wasn't already overloaded on awesomesauce at that moment, I then noticed the most irresistable pair of fuzzy leopard skin dice as we were leaving. Guess who's handlebars they're on now!
The terrain was pretty gentle and the scenery still nice. I managed a nice conversation with Miranda which I hadn't yet really done. Something i like to do with people comes from this awesome dude named Sanford who taught a FOP workshop at school this past spring.
How it works is to have 2 person exchanges where each person has 2 minutes to talk about specific features of hemselves(usually their school, best friend, favorite teacher, etc) while the other person can only nod their head and say "uh huh". in It's really interesting what comes out and how much we can learn about each other's essences in only a few short minutes. The questions that result once the listener is allowed to speak always amaze me. While structuring a simple conversation initially wierds most people out, its highly worth it. Perhaps you'll give it a try sometime?
Anyway, back to the ride, a real highlight was Miranda complementing my shadow and how cool it looked as we were riding. I've never ever had anyone say that and it felt really cool. Thanks Miranda!
As we approached the wafting smells of cocoa in Hershey, Pennsylvania a factory tour pitstop was most necessary. Little did we know what was about to happen. After the ridiculous factory tour ride involving dancing and singing robotic cows(alright they were kinda cool) Max decided that he really really wanted to see if they would give us complementary admission to Hershey Park. The five of us decided to give it a shot expecting nothing and at the guest services counter we met Bob whose conversation with us basically went as follows:
"Well what i can do is hold your credit card and not charge it so long as you're back in 45 minutes, actually lets make that an hour, actually just take your time, actually let me call the ride manager and let you skip the line onto our most extreme roller coaster, actually let me reserve front row seats for you in the coaster" So yes, thanks to the infinite generosity and kindness of Bob at Guest Services we had been in and out of Hershey Park's best roller coaster free of charge within 20 minutes. Though we might have also hit up the horse carousel and a picture with the walking chocolate bars. The roller coaster was sick and even now I still can't process what super fun had happened there on such a whim.
Tonight our church was kind enough to open up this sweet parish house to us and dinner was all arranged and cooked by the local Habitat for Humanity chapter. First of all they had couscous. That's at least +9 points for them. However it was only once I got there dressed in my see through skin tight red sweater did I realize that they had actually invited all of their members to mingle with us. Talk about first impressions...
I did get to meet Erica and Antron there. Our small talk slowly rolled into much deeper conversation and I just loved them. The way Antron talked about loving what he can do for people through his Habitat job rather than just focusing on what paycheck's he could be getting at other jobs cut right through me. He had this total earnestness gushing from every pore and seeping down his great dreads. We talked a lot about how we both love meeting new people and man we just totally connected. It was all of ten minutes but that feeling is the thunder of life for me. I can hardly think of anything better in the world than connecting with another human being. Erica was equally as charming and we just threw jokes around left and right. She was so sweet and sharp in conversation i could sit with her all day. She is actually in charge of interviewing potential homeowners applying for a Habitat house which sounds like a great job. I wish i had talked more with her about it.
Red Velvet was a hit with everyone so I think it will continue to occupy my bag, as will the dice. More affordable housing presentations tonight, and following them Dan Cooperman was kind enough to buy us all huge tubs of Rita's "Water Ice". I know it as "Italian Ice" but its the same thing and it was great.
There's this wierd game people keep playing where they describe a line between two objects repeatedly according to some hidden "rule". They give good and bad examples while the rest of us mortals have to figure out what the rule is. It's pretty ridiculous personally but then again i still can't figure it out. Hopefully that will change.
Unfortunately today I discovered some butt issues while riding. And by that i mean i felt the fires of hell burning all up in there if you get me. I'm going to try some ointments and monitor it closely. It would really suck to have to ride in the van because of it not to mention, that its hard to even sit down sometimes. We'll definitely treat it and it'll soon be fine but it just kinda sucks.
Some other people have been having serious knee issues though, and i can't imagine what it's been like for them to not be able to ride, or to ride with extreme pain. Steve, Carlie and Marisa are true champs.
Today i finally realized that some irritation i've been feeling lately has been coming from the sheer stress of constantly being around 31 people in such cramped quarters. I realized that its just kind of inevitable and that its not that i dislike people particularly. It's like a roommate's idiosyncracies multiplied by 31. I'm glad to have been able to diagnose this in myself as i think it will help me avoid any passive aggressive anger from developing.
Tomorrow I think I'm going to confront/try to resolve that annoying interpersonal issue(trust me it's not what you think). Hopefully all will turn out well.
All in all, its odd trying to balance a personal journal with a public record. Since this is my only written record, that's why i tend to reveal more rather than less.There isn't really the room to reveal all my really personal feelings and concerns though without losing the joy of sharing this all with you. However think its going just fine and I hope its been good for you all so far! Love the comments!
1 more day in PA! Not the most sleep tonight but still better then yesterday.
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