summertime
leaving for camp tomorrow... woot. don't bother checking here for, oh, the next month or two, because updating my blog is probably the last thing i'll be wanting to do while at camp. however, i would love to hear from you, whoever or wherever you are, and if you write i'll write back. really. so here's how to get ahold of me:
- e-mail me at sherpa.noonan@gmail.com. i'll be able to check my e-mail periodically over the summer, so this is probably the easiest way to stay in touch
- snail-mail me at:
Patrick Noonan
156 West Shore Rd
Swanzey, NH 03446
first one is easiest way... second is best, cause i love getting mail. so even if i don't know you, drop me a postcard anyways, cause you'll make my day. really.
rockin' it for the kids all summer long.... i'm out.
the end
another day of adventure
yesterday i went whitewater rafting with my sis. despite the freezing cold temps (high for the day was around 45, water temps of about 50 degrees), it was an
awesome day. we went on the kennebec, which isn't a seriously hardcore river, but it does have a good set of class IV and even class V rapids, so you get pretty wild ride. no one died, although liz almost took a trip down the river by herself without the raft. good times... they even have a cookout at the end of the day, so i put a pretty serious hurting on the steak and hot coffee. if you're ever looking for a rafting outfitter, check out
crabapple whitewater. they're the people to go with if you're ever on the kennebec
three days till camp. can't wait
so i have this week off, and of
course the weather turns absolutely sucky. monday was decent (aside from being sickeningly humid), but every other day this week it's been cold and rainy. hooray for crazy maine weather. i was hoping to at least get a bit of beach time in at some point, but to no avail
my room is so horrendously messy, that i think i'm just going to wait until after i pack for camp to try and clean it, because that way there'll be a substantially less amount of crap littering the floor
i still can't believe that i got to go skydiving and whitewater rafting this week. unreal. awesome stuff like that isn't supposed to happen to me. and, as an added bonus, i found a place to play epic duels online, so now luke and i can get our gaming fix on a much more regular basis. rock on
i'm alive
skydiving was
awesome. everything i thought it would be, and more. the jump was from 14,000 feet, with about a minute of freefall (you drop like 10k feet in that short time), then a couple of minutes gliding down under the canopy. just unreal. here's my offical certificate:
can't wait to go again. worth every penny, and then some. that feeling of looking out the door of the plane, seeing earth three miles away, and then jumping... it's truly priceless. man oh man
tomorrow, a day on the river with the sis. early start time (have to be up before five a.m. that's bordering on a crime), and a full day of fun ahead.
life = woot
a week off
it's been a while since i've had one of those... close to a year, anyways. i know i took some time off last august to go out to jared's wedding, and the occasional day here and there for random trips and excursions, but nothing of any real substance. so i'm ready for a week filled with nothing but relaxation, sleeping in, reading, and so forth.
plus i get to go
SKYDIVING tomorrow, and then on wednesday my sister and i are going
WHITEWATER RAFTING. in case the all-caps didn't tip you off, i'm excited about both of those things. very, very excited. both are on my list of "50 things," so the chance to check off two items in a single week is quite amazing.
oh, and starting next sunday i'll be at
CAMP for the summer, which i'm also pretty pumped about
then next fall, the
ALL-AMERICAN ROAD TRIP
then after that... who knows. one thing at a time
yesterday was my last day at work, and i must admit, i was a little sad to leave in some ways. one guy actually stopped in on his day off just to say goodbye, which was really touching. but then again, it's starting to get beastly hot in there and very, very busy, and i won't miss the 60-hour weeks and ovenlike temperatures one bit. plus i got whacked on the shins on my next to last day (as usual, my injury was a product of my own stupidity, so i have no-one to blame but me), so i have this hideous looking scrape/bruise that is pretty tender, to say the least. there are few things that hurt more than getting hit in the shins. i let out a primal scream of anguish when it happened which garnered a surprisingly slim number of looks, which i can only attriubute to my tendency to vocalize myself somewhat regularly. it's fun to yell and shout and hoot and holler without any repurcussions, except that when you scream in pain for real, you don't always get the sympathy you might otherwise deserve. and i forgot what i was saying... oh yeah, work. it's done. woot
i'm in a james fenimore cooper phase right now... he's one of my all-time favorite authours. i just picked up
the deerslayer at borders earlier today, so i finally have my own copy of that and am wading through it for the umpteenth time. great book
did i mention that i'm going
SKYDIVING tomorrow? cause i am. and i'm stoked. if i don't die, i'll let you know how it was
the end.
one more week
it's hard to believe it's been a year that i've been back at the warehouse... and it's about to come to a close. probably not forever, i'm sure i'll be back at some point, but i don't plan on staying full-time there for any appreciable length of time again. it's time to move on. maybe i'll keep it as a summer job of sorts, to fund my nomadic enterprises, but it's time for me to leave. i'm worn down... physically, emotionally, spiritually, you name it. it's been a long, hard year, in more ways than one. i'm ready for a change.
but, i'm also proud of what i've been able to do in the past year. not proud in a haughty sense, but rather grateful for what the Lord has allowed to be done through me, to make use of what gifts He's alloted to me. i am the best at what i do; i can say that without any hesitation or deliberation, or any possibility of disagreement from my coworkers. i work longer, harder, faster, and better than anyone else in my department. i haven't so much as showed up late for a single day of work in the past year, and the only time i missed work because of sickness was when they told me to go home after i had already come in to work. i've been able to avoid any major injuries, in a job where they're almost commonplace. i've worked long hours, come in on my days off and stayed late on days i was scheduled, worked hurt. and worked while sick and tired, and never complained. i've done everything asked of me, and then some. depsite only working a little over half of the year last year, i was named the associate of the year for the grocery department for 2004. that meant more to me, in some ways, than any scholarship or recognition that i got in college.
why do i say all this? because being the best is something to be proud of, even in something as seemingly insignificant as warehouse work. it's hard to stay motivated in something without a goal to shoot for, and i decided early on that i wanted to be the best warehouse worker in our company. and i think i'm at that point.
because of my hard work, i've gained the respect of my peers. and with respect comes a willingness to talk, and to listen. nobody that i know has gotten saved, or even come to church or showed a keen interest in things of the Lord. but they've seen me, imperfect that i am. in an environment such as my workplace, it doesn't take very much to stand out, so even one so immature in his walk with God as i am can't help but be a shining light. it doesn't make it any easier, but it does make conversational opportunities about lifestyle differences more abundant. and, on some level, that's what it's all about. maybe i haven't started a Bible study on the book of john with anyone, or gotten a bunch of guys to church, but i will say this: they know who i am, and they know what i believe, and they know that it makes a very real difference in my life
i'm writing this partly for myself, to convince me that my time here hasn't been futile. i don't have anything tangible to show for my work, really, no special handwritten proclomation from God that i was doing His work, at the right place at the right time. i still occasionally wonder if i missed a road, an opportunity, a chance to travel down a different path, and so ended up here. but i know that even if that was the case, and i'm not so sure it is, that God is good enough to make my time spent worthwhile, if i only let Him. and i've tried... not very well, or very consistently. but i've tried to let myself grow, to become stronger, more mature in my faith and in my life
all this to say, i have one more week left at work. i'm excited about the change of environments, looking forward to a little time off and then a summer working at camp. but i'm also saddened by my lack of results at work. i still hurt for the guys i work with, still see the pain and emptiness in their lives every day, and wish i could show them the way. i've tried, but not hard enough. what if this is the last week that i'll ever see some of them? what if this is the last week that there's a chance for me to share Christ with someone? what if this is the last week before someone dies, maybe even me? life is fleeting, and death arrives too quickly in too many ways, it's impossible to pretend that it's not a possibility
i'm tired. i know it's time to leave, before i myself am worn down too far. i've been trying to be too much for too many people for too long. but i still have regrets on leaving, whether i should have them or not. and i'm glad that i do... because i'd hate to be easily satisfied with my time here on earth. i want to kep trying, striving to grow. i'm still a kid in many ways, but i know i've grown in some small amount in the past year, in ways that i never would have in any other environment.
i guess i'm just wondering, as always... wondering if i've been all that i could have been, if i've truly given the very best that i had. i know i haven't, but i wished i could have. if i made a difference, however small, in just one persons life, that would be enough... but have i done even that? i hope so, but i don't know.
change is good, but it's just plain weird at times, too
