For safekeeping

I haven't been much good at blogging the past few months. I suspect it's because I don't trust myself to accurately translate these moments into words. But it is good and grounding for me to return here and write, if only for myself, if only so I can remember this time.

This past week I flew up to Calgary to visit my boyfriend, Jacob. It was only my second time in Canada and I was as fascinated as last time. Mostly, though, I was just happy to be with him. Being in a relationship long distance can be brutal, but somehow it's all worth it when you're together again. On a misty Saturday we took a day trip to Banff and I was overwhelmed with beauty. Come summer, Jacob told me, it'd be even more majestic and I could hardly believe him. On the way back to Calgary that night, I fell asleep in the passenger seat to Neil Young and the shadowy mountains looming above the highway. It was such a simple moment, but I cannot get it out of my mind. I am reminded of a poem by Wendell Berry:

"Again I resume the long

lesson: how small a thing

can be pleasing, how little

in this hard world it takes

to satisfy the mind

and bring it to its rest."

There is much more I could write, but most of it has been tucked into my heart for safekeeping. I think often about striking that balance between tasteful sharing and keeping things sacred. I wonder, what will life be like six months, a year, five years from now? We all know that it was curiosity that killed the cat, so I will be content to wait and see.

The most normal picture we were able to get together, ha!

Jacob so patiently explaining our route

Jacob's Jeep is lifted approximately as high as my waist; it took some practicing to be able to get in the darn thing halfway gracefully, but I prevailed!

Two Jack Lake

Approaching Lake Minnewanka