smacky and bucky

The weather was glorious this weekend. I actually got a little too much sun Sunday and almost got sunburn. It's at that moment when you wake up and your skin feels a little too tight. Five minutes more would have been a sunburn. I hadn't planned to spend the entire day outside. I had a book I was going to read. It was actually in my hand! But then someone asked me to help cut down a dead tree that was leaning dangerously close to his house, so that took a few hours, including cutting it down, then cutting it into stackable pieces, then loading those pieces onto a trailer and pulling it to a woodpile and finally unloaded the wood from the aforementioned trailer. [Insert lumberjack song here for Lauren]

The job was rewarded with a boat trip out into the Chesapeake Bay, however, so it was all worth it. But that did mean even more sun on my poor body. Remember that it's been a long, cold, dark winter, and I have an office with no window. I'm not used to seeing the sun, much less basking in it for hours on end. The last time I was used to the sun was when I was in Africa. After I returned, I resumed my life under fluorescent lights.

I lead a double life now. During the week, I'm the editor. On the weekends, I chop wood, I plant bushes, I take nature walks, I kayak, I ride a mountain bike. My weekend life outdoors gives me energy for the windowless office and the fluorescent lights.