Adventures!

Life is sometimes startlingly different from Kansas up here in the Pacific Northwest. People’s culinary tastes, lifestyles, and habits are so different that I’m frequently left wondering whether I really have a place in Washington or not. Nevertheless, occasionally I find myself doing something here that I never would have done in Kansas that just feels… right.

For the past few weeks, I’ve been engaging in frequent volunteerism - not on my own, of course, but with the help of my brother and a few friends. I’ve helped to remodel a recreation room at a mental hospital, helped set up for a catered dance show at a community arts center, and just yesterday spent six hours handing out drinks at a water station for the SeaFair Marathon.

It was sort of strange passing half-filled paper cups to runners as they flew by our station, but I have to say that, even despite my sunburn, standing out in the sun all morning getting splashed by Gleukos was entertaining. My group managed to pass one to the leader of the marathon - a Kenyan fellow who sped past the station without even slowing down to drink his cup of the energy drink - at the 20-mile marker (where our water station was).

Overall, I’m fairly happy with how the experience turned out. It was satisfying to volunteer for the marathon, even if I’m sure I couldn’t run for 26 miles.