Life just keeps on rolling and I've had a reasonably decent month without work. There were some cool trips out of NC, and plenty of emotional ups and downs. I had this past month off in preparation for the semester course that I'm about to run for NCOBS. With that in mind, I tried to find some balance between getting after it (climbing), visiting friends and family, and resting. Chicago Where we left off in the last blog, I had covid, and was praying for a negative test so that I could see my squad of hometown friends out in Chicago. Lucky for me, I tested negative with plenty of time and made my flight for this little midwest excursion. This group of friends has been my girl gang all through high school and still to this day. In college, then covid, we made visits happen. This was our first reunion, all 6 of us, since we were all home for covid. It really locked in that this is a lifelong group. Boston Unfortunately I had a medical procedure at the very beginning of September that would need to include some recovery time. Fortunately, this pushed me to plan a visit home to see family and more friends. My sister Ronia even booked a flight from Miami to be a part of the visit, what a treat! It was really nice to be in my childhood home again and to spend some quality time with my immediate family, who I only see once a year or so. I also got to see some friends from high school and college, who live in Boston. On the morning I was going to leave (9/11) I cried and said goodbye to my childhood dog, Ween (Ernesto Danger), because he had terminal cancer and I could just tell that he was at the end of his life. Ween was put down peacefully on our front porch on September 13. Rest In Peace Ween. climbing trip How else would one Addie Hurwitz bounce back from a medical sucker punch to the face as well as the loss of a loved one? After the trip home, Daniel and I returned to basecamp for just a day then we headed out to the Red River Gorge in Kentucky for 2 days of sport climbing and 1 day of trad climbing. It was fantastic weather and not crowded at all. Following that, we went to Seneca Rocks in West Virginia for 2 days of trad multi pitch climbing. That was a new climbing area for us both, and definitely came with its challenges. But the rock feature was super cool and we climbed some pretty cool lines. Here's some pics: Now what? It's pretty hard for me to complain but I will surely do it anyway. September was fine, did a lot of fun and restorative things. Also cried a lot. Hard. That's life. This week I'm working with Daniel on some pre pre-course work to get ready for our 30 day mountains semester phase. Formal pre-course starts in just a few days. After that phase, I have about 10 days off before I fly down to Argentina to work the Patagonia phase of the same course. I'm staring into the barrel of two straight months of course work ahead of me, serving students. After that, 5 straight months of climbing, skiing, yoga, and investing in myself. Balance for me is pretty macro I guess, not a day to day thing but a year long mission. As I've always been a pretty all-or-nothing person, I guess that makes sense. Onward.
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