Notes from Yellowstone #5

Work. Cleaning the showers and the laundry room is an amazing workout. Now, I need every bit of the upcoming 2 1/2 days off to recover! The “coffeebreak” nearly killed me. I left the building at 11:05 pm on Tuesday night — I’m still learning the tasks and definitely not as fast as I once was. By the time the dogs were walked around the camper (no forays after dark) and I was fed (fig newtons and milk, a balanced meal) and showered, it was after midnight. I had to be in to work NLT 6:45. So, I fell right to sleep.

Right.

Because that’s the way our bodies work. Right? Not exactly. More importantly, my mind needed a little time to come down from the frenetic pace of the week. When I finally did drop off, I had dreams of bookkeepers and accountants holding me hostage until I confessed that my cash drawer was over (or short)…I have no idea. When the alarm on my phone went off at 0530, there were deer and very aggressive fawns in the dream, and I wasn’t faring too well.

Wednesday was a busy day. We gave a LOT of showers during the morning. And, like the rest of the team, I ran the register, let people into showers, kept those showers clean and supplied, kept the laundry spiffy, and sold ice and ice cream. It’s my summer job in Yellowstone.

I’ve made it more than a week! I don’t think they’re going to fire me right away, so I may get to stay another week, and maybe another after that, and perhaps another.

Flowers. I’m embarrassed to say that the flower I mistook for Queen Anne’s Lace is a white yarrow with the yummiest aroma. It’s the prevailing scent in the air up here on the hill above the lake. It’s quite unlike the yarrow I grow in my Colorado garden. It’s smaller, more delicate, and intoxicating. The purple is lupine. I should have known. My mother’s favorite wildflower growing wild all around me during her birthday month. With them, and the goatsbeard (salsify), I am up to three! Now I want to find out their medicinal applications. I know yarrow can be used in tinctures, but I don’t know if this heavenly sweet variety is the best for that application. And no internet to waste my days on — starting in one corner of my mind and ending up in another.

There have been thunderclouds bumping around us this afternoon. I’m pretty respectful of the potential of that kind of weather at this altitude. And I am also afraid of lightening. A couple of close calls. So we are staying inside for a while.

Listening to the wind in the pines.

Enjoying a Moose Drool

The simple pleasures of a hard working woman.

I’ve come to the realization that The Hovel is not level. We’re not going to lay any blame here, but an idiot installed the level master on the front of the 5er, and then relied on it. And I am living with her.

I know what needs to be done. I just dread doing it in a campground that is becoming increasingly populated by seasonal workers of all sorts. It’s a bit a of pride thing. (Or trying to prove things to myself, of course. Same thing)

In the meantime, I get annoyed at cupboards that want to shut themselves on my head, or open wide, slamming against themselves. Also, when I am very tired, it plays with my equilibrium.

Maybe Friday, after folks around me have left for work…