on the 27th

Random fact about me?  Dates stick out in my mind.  Unfortunately that wasn't true in college or I would have done a LOT better in Western Civ, but random dates do stick out in my mind and when they roll around my mind wanders.  Now, validly, my mind wanders a whole lot to start with but go with me here.

Today, Dec. 27th (because I started this before midnight), my day looked pretty normal... morning run, a bit of hanging out with friends, working at Sbux and baking some pumpkin cookies (yep, that's normal these days).  However, over the course of the day I thought about the 27th of other months and the significance of those days and where I was....

3 months ago, September 27th:  One of my favorite days on the trail.  Seriously... hiked 13 miles from Pleasant Pond Lean to to Moxie Bald Mountain Lean to.  Hiked the day with Pat, Mojo, Oatmeal, and Chill, some of my very favorite trail people.  Amazing campfires, beautiful weather, great mountains, and our first view of Katahdin (which was still 150 miles away).  Seriously as close to a perfect day as I can remember on the trail.

6 months ago, June 27th:  My first day back at Sulphur Grove after my sabbatical.  A day that changed everything.  A day that I realized how much I had changed.

8 months ago, April 27th:  I stood on Springer Mountain in Georgia... with NOT A CLUE where I was headed.  I intended to walk the trail for a couple of weeks, maybe a month.  I had NO IDEA I would end up in Maine, meet amazing people, and become a different, better, stronger person.

12 months ago, Dec. 27th, 2010:  I led an amazing team of teens and young adults to Batay #9 in Barahona, Dominican Republic.... where we mixed concrete and dreamed of changing the world.  A year ago tonight I was falling asleep to the sounds of the city on the top floor (open air) of the guest house while the warm ocean breeze blew.

The 27th... who knew it had such significance?  And what a difference a year can make... And as I look forward, I can't begin to imagine what the 27ths of the future hold.  I can dream.  I could tell you the things I hope for in the 27ths and other days to come.  I could tell you what I want and plan for and who I hope is a part of those days, so many things that depend on so many other things, other people and what they want, endless possibility.  I could be overwhelmed by that... but instead I choose to be content knowing everything comes together in its own time.  My dreams, my plans, the future... will happen exactly as they are meant to be.

SO tonight, as the cold wind howls outside and I head to sleep I wish for YOU this... I wish for you many amazing days and memories of your own, I wish for you amazing people to do life with, I wish for you blessings so numerous you can't count them and challenges that cause you to learn and grow.  I wish for you joy.  I wish for you many amazing 27ths of your own.

Bjs!!