The Column
Motto: Hoosier Daddy?
I went to Indiana this weekend. It was good.
Anyway, on to other things…
Not really. More about Indiana. I had never made a trip like that before by myself. It was a bit empowering to know that I can brave airport reservations, timing, flight delays, ticketing, car rental, and navigation, all by myself. Well… with my phone. I consider anything I can do with my phone to be “by myself”, because I think of my phone as an extension of my person. That’s why I tell everyone I’m really good at division.
Actually, I was surprised how easy the whole thing was. I should probably give a quick shout-out to TripIt and their Android App. Although I could have made it without their service, it did make things markedly easier.
I got to see my girlfriend, Melissa. She is the head music lady at a camp for kids with various disabilities. Each week a new camp comes in and new kids get to have a camp experience beyond any that I ever had. The place was seriously nice. The trees and wildlife were beautiful; the kind of beautiful that you’d see in a movie and think to yourself, “yeah right. I wish life could look like that”. All of the facilities and camp grounds were accessible, nice, and very well maintained. The impression made on me by the environment was only surpassed by the impression made by the staff. Never before have I seen so many selfless and amazing individuals together working as one. The staff worked together brilliantly to make camp a fun and engaging experience for children of all levels of ability. What the kids and the parents of the kids might not see is how good each of the members of the staff were as people. Each one I met impressed me with their genuinely nice disposition, care for their campers, and fun-loving attitude. Melissa fits the bill perfectly.
I volunteered for a day. I tried to volunteer for a week and push my flight back, but apparently doing so would have cost more than the entire trip (including car rental and 2 flights) would have cost. So I volunteered for a day. At the end of that day, I felt rewarded. I felt proud. I felt like I helped. I felt exhausted. I have no idea how the counselors that work there full time can manage such high energy levels on a consistent basis. I wish I could have stayed, but I am grateful for the experience I did get.
With the weekend, Melissa and I visited Indiana University, the home of the Hoosiers. Apparently that’s our thing (we spent the better portion of a day at The University of Texas when we were in Austin). It was nice. More on-par with KU than was Texas. Texas was huge. Indiana was just “big”. We watched a series of bike races after almost getting stuck in the middle of the course in the rental car somehow. Seriously, I almost hit a group of bikers in the middle of a race. We went to a genuine Drive-In movie theater and watched Pixar’s “Brave”. The movie was okay. The atmosphere of the drive-in was awesome. Why aren’t those more popular?!
When all was said and done and it was time to fly back to Kansas, I realized I would miss that place.
I do.
Other news: During the trip, I read a couple hundred pages of “Yes Man”. I still love this book. It is NOT the story that was told in the movie staring Jim Carrey. It is a true-life story of a man who decided to say yes to everything for a year. It’s comical. It’s insightful. It’s genius.
I like reading.
I liked this weekend.
Top 5: Pictures from the Trip (can’t show pictures of the actual camp)
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Unless it floats on air, I’m not interested… also take notice the position of the knees in relation to both the table in its “full up-right position” and the seat in front of me. Being tall has its disadvantages sometimes.
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Once I got there, I was taken aback by how amazingly green it was. The whole “phone/camera” thing can’t even bring down its beauty.
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Indiana University: Aaron has a big head edition
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Indiana University: Melissa edition (much better).
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Indiana University: “Gee aren’t we cute” edition
Quote:
“I’ve spent my whole life wishing I was taller, but I guess I should consider myself lucky” - The lady sitting next to me on the plane, after I took the first picture from the Top 5