Mammoth Adventures

That's right! Mike and I pulled into Mammoth Lakes, CA today! It was kinda funny that we got in today, since all along we had planned for Monday night... You see, we were driving past Mono Lake. We had planned on camping there after we went for a run. But, after spending much longer on the road on the way down and teaching Mike how to drive a stick (#$*%^#$#@! sorry Black Beauty <--that's my car's name) we both considered the following (very Bill Nye-ish, don't you think?):

1. We had no idea if there would be a place to run down by the lake
2. We both wanted to sleep in beds... (I haven't had the pleasure for over a week)
3. We both wanted showers after the run. (b/c it's hard to sleep when you are hot and have dried sweat all over yourself.... "But what about the lake?" Well, let's just say the shore is covered in black flies and the water is 3x saltier than the ocean... not the best for cleaning one's person eh?)
4. We are 20 miles form Mammoth Lakes and we know where to run when we get there.
5. Mammoth is Beautiful and awesome this time of year (an a lot of other times a year too!)
After considerations.... the choice was obvious: GO TO MAMMOTH!!!

So, we made it to our/my final destination. I will be here for the next 5 weeks. YIPPY!

One last thing. I want to tell you about the man we are staying with. Before today I have never ever to my knowledge chatted, talked, seen, observed, or any other use of a verb with one of the nicest, gentle, and kind people that I have ever met. Him name is Jeff. We connected with him through another runner we met @ Mammoth last year. Jeff as far as I know lives a simple life in the hills of this small town. To keep him company he has 3 cats. I don't remember all of there names, but one of them is named Princess. I can tell that he cares for them greatly, though I have only seen a few interactions between him and the felines. When we arrived early, there was not problem (we called first to make sure we would not be unwelcome of course). He brought us in, showed us his place, offered us his food, gave us a key, showed us how to feed the fish, offered us towels, and asked for little in return (watch the place for a few days while he is on vacation). We just got here. He doesn't even know us. He trusts that we are not crazy, irresponsible people (and he would be correct with the assumption). He will be entrusting all that he has here to our care. That is quite amazing to me. Some might say that's foolish, but I think it incredibly generous. Today at church the Pastor @ Tahoe Forest Church (TFC) talked about responsibility. I want to be a more responsible person... as I hope you do too. Now I get a chance to put that into practice.
On a similar note, I think Jeff could be quite lonely. I say this not because he has three cats and I don't ever want to have 3 cats in the house... but I say he might be lonely because for an hour this evening he played the piano for me. He would flip through various books trying to find tunes that I would know. I confess that I was not too good at the task of identification, but I did throughly enjoy the endeavor. It was obvious that he hadn't played much lately, but by the end the notes we crisp and the beat consistent. He seemed to greatly enjoy playing for me. My presence gave him a reason to do something that he hadn't done for a while that we both enjoyed. It reminded me of my mom playing the piano when I was young. Our whole family would gather together in the family room and listen to mom. I am sure that would be playing with toys, but I absorbed the music nonetheless. When Jeff played tonight, I wondered who else might enjoy this talent of his and how often he felt comfortable in sharing it with others. I feel thankful to have been able to spend some time with Jeff. I hope that we can have more time together (maybe I can get some lessons? What out Abbs!) and that I might be able to help in some meaningful way.