Those Bad, Bad Badlands

Sunday, September 2nd, 2012

After stopping on the Missouri River for lunch, we continued on to Badlands National Park. It completely eclipsed the Missouri lunch. The formations were so different from anything I had ever seen! 

All the pictures I had seen of the Badlands were at the base of the mountains (hills?) looking up or across. I had never seen how you can look DOWN at these hills, or the portions of the canyon where there's a maze of eroding ridges. If one had time (and non-squeamish parents), one could follow those out for miles, winding back and forth and jumping cracks in the earth. 

Because of the angle of the sun, the shadows (or lack thereof) were confusing. Distance was tricky to determine as well. I would walk along, but things beside me didn't seem to move, or I'd be past them sooner than I expected. It's very hard to describe that sensation--let's just say that until I got used to it, I didn't walk close to the edges!

My mother was wonderful. She let me climb all over everything without scolding me too much.

It was lovely. I'm going back there someday!

~Kiwi~

A Sunday Afternoon by the Missouri

Sunday, September 2nd, 2012

We lunched by the Missouri River in South Dakota, right about where Lewis & Clark camped for a night or two.

 This is the place where my jaw first dropped. And looking back at it now? This, though beautiful, was nothing compared with what was ahead!

 I braved rattlesnakes and whatever other unsavoury beasts could have been lurking, and went barefoot.

It was a lovely warm, windy, sunny day. We couldn't have bought better weather! It made the trees look really green, and the river and sky so very blue.

~Kiwi~

Four Years

Happy anniversary to me!
My family and I have lived here for four years today. And it's been great.
Not all of it--Wisconsin isn't perfect!--but a far cry from Iowa. I love my Iowa friends, and I miss them, but in the long run, we are much better located here.

When we moved in, several people from our new church came and helped clean the house and unload boxes. Dad knew one or two of them, but the rest were strangers. Honestly, when we moved out the only help we had was one couple from that church, their friends who were visiting for the weekend, and one family who hadn't even planned on coming to help. Someone had to call and ask if they were coming.
It took us about five years to feel even semi-comfortable in our Iowa church. Compare that to five minutes here!

No, I don't hate our old church, or our old town (though it's border-line for the town). I'm not saying that everyone there were horrible, thoughtless people. They weren't! We just didn't fit in there like we do here.
I live in the best community ever.

~Kiwi~

Browbeaten into Blogging

Oh hey, look! I'm alive!

The past two weeks have been spent on vacation, the first day of which we visited family in the next state over. This sad, lonely, sick little blog came up in discussion with a Cousin, who threatened me with Total and Complete Annihilation if I did not revive this thing. 

Here I be. 

 This is said Cousin's adorable Daughter. One of them, that is. The other spent the entire evening running around with my patent-pending Baby-Attracter necklace. 

This Baby Attracter is becoming legendary. Almost every baby at church under the age of 2 has played with it at one time or another. A random cutie at my friend's graduation party. And now my incredibly shy first-cousin-once-removed has become my very bestest friend. The thing works wonders, I tell you!

What is so special about it? What does it look like? I can't tell you.

The whole thing is so incredibly simple, you could replicate it in no time and the babies would have no reason to come to Miss RoRa for their entertainment. You, sir or madam, are Out of Luck.

~Kiwi

(Yes, I have far too much fun capitalizing various Significant Words. I'll try to cut down on that eventually, but for now I can't stop!)