New purchases for the Journey ahead

Down Jacket

I confess that I'm having a bit of a spending problem these days. While I certainly know I can purchase goods in UB, winter is wrapping up around here and it seems like a good time to invest in winter gear as well as those essentials I'm confident I'll need in my new life and surroundings. 

From simple things like thermal underwear and turtlenecks to an 800-fill Down Jacket (right), all of which I will need to get me through the often brutal winters in Mongolia. Ulaanbaatar is THE coldest capital city in the world. The average daily temp is -13 Celsius (which is 8 degrees Fahrenheit), but it can be -40 at night (which is the same no matter which scale you use!). 

Mongolia is a stunningly beautiful country and is blessed with four seasons which I have enjoyed all my life--from Michigan to Pennsylvania to Idaho to Colorado. Now I will experience those seasons on a different continent. In case you are thinking you'd like to visit us (we'd LOVE to have you!), read more about their seasons here. Of course summer is the most delightful!

To get me there

Additionally, since Zorig left with my red Large North Face Camp Duffel (which had been purchased specifically for Dad and I's trip to Mongolia--it seemed fitting to send it on home), I needed to replace it and let's get real, I will be checking at least one extra bag when I get on that plane this summer (two pieces are included for international travel). I'll take my one large ordinary suitcase and these two new duffels. They are sturdy and waterproof and perfect for the work and adventures we'll be having down the road. 

Watching Z stock up on supplies for work and for fun probably motivated me somewhat for this pre-move shopping spree. But considering I don't plan to make it back to the US until the end of 2016, I think it wise to prepare and plan ahead. 

For riding

Then of course, since Zorig has been kind enough to purchase me my own saddle (really!!), it was imperative to get a new pair of Ariat lace-up ropers (I wore my last pair out a few years back) for the time we'll be spending on horseback covering the steppe and mountains, and perhaps doing a little hunting along the way. I'll spend a little time breaking these in now so that they will be ready for action come summer and fall. 

Yes, I have been busy with the shopping amidst the continued sorting and packing. I'm waiting for the day when I get the call to take my prepared boxes and crates to Denver from where they will be gathered together with the boxes of others to be piled into a large shipping container (conex), sent to Los Angeles, loaded on a ship, and then will spend 45-60 days en route to Mongolia--my new home. I've never been a fan of the packing up....but have always loved the unpacking process in a new space. 

Oh yeah....and one more very important item--the dress I will wear for arrival back into the Chinggis Khaan International Airport, a place I departed on Wednesday, August 6th, 2014, with no intention of ever returning. 

A word of advice....or perhaps a powerful suggestion: Keep an eye out for those U-turns in life......or find that clear path between the crush of traffic to take an unexpected exit ramp......they can be the most shocking and wonderful things you encounter in your life.  

P.S. And no...there will be no picture of the dress. At least not until it touches ground in Mongolia!

Wonder

Please read these two definitions of the word Wonder......

Wonder: to be filled with admiration, amazement, or awe; marvel

Wonder: a feeling of surprise mingled with admiration, caused by something beautiful, unexpected, unfamiliar, or inexplicable. 

Now think about the last time you experienced a feeling of wonder.......

What Google Images turns up for Child & Wonder.

On a child....it might look something like this....  

.......really....stop and close your eyes and try to remember that moment and how you felt inside. 

What caused it? How did it feel in your heart? In your mind? In your gut? Were others present? Or were you alone? 

And what did you do with the feeling? Did you pause to be IN IT? Or did it move you to SHARE IT? 

Okay......thank you, for indulging me on that exercise. You see, this evening I was overcome by wonder. Getting home from work just after 4 pm, I was determined to get outside and get some exercise. It was 24 degrees (Fahrenheit that is...which is about -4 Celsius) and snow began to rain down on me about halfway through the nearly 4 mile walk. I was a bit chilled with the wind in my face....but more than anything, I FELT WONDER. 

Wonder to feel so alive and so free. Yes...that is what I feel at this juncture in my life. Some call it a midlife crisis (that's a whole other post topic!), some call it crazy, some call it....oh, I don't even know what they are saying about me. (Insert eye roll and shoulder shrug here.)

But I want to tell you that I feel acutely alive....aware of all my senses, in tune with the world on a micro, and a macro, level. 

You see, tonight as I walked the sidewalks of Old Colorado City, listening to a workout mix on Pandora, I found myself wanting to throw my arms out to the side, looking to the sky and collecting snowflakes in my eyelashes, with a wide smile across my face.....just wondering at life and this moment. Feeling fully alive. And then I look at the people in the cars driving down the street.....and I thought....I must look strange to them. But you know.....none of them were looking at me. They were on their phones (mostly), or talking to the person beside them, or scolding the child in the backseat, or looking at the streetlight. 

Therein lies the part of the definition that stands out....."feeling of surprise." You see....Wonder has to shock us, move us, past the ordinary everyday stuff.....to see ourselves, our lives, in a new light. 

Tonight.....I wish you the experience of WONDER....it can be so magical. As I know. :)

Collecting Things

So this sorting and packing project is requiring a lot more time and energy than I anticipated. It's easy to assess, say, your clothing. If you haven't worn it in a year or more, then it's time to send it to Goodwill. But the bits and pieces of your past that hold sentimental meaning.....well they are a bit more difficult. Some items tell the history of Heather. Some items share about a specific aspect of my personality. Some things are simply a record of a past accomplishment. 

Two of many Wolf items

But today I'm pondering the American--at least I think it's an American inclination--need, desire, or practice of collecting certain things. For example, as a young teen I felt a strong fascination and pull to the wolf as an animal. I began collecting wolf items--from plates to shirts to figurines and art and coffee mugs. Why the wolf? I had an affinity for them because while they do mate for life, there is also the occasional lone wolf that never aligns themself to a pack. They are a loyal creature and beautiful beyond description. I've been lucky enough to just see one in the wild in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan when I was about 12 years old. He was a sight!

Some Madonna stuff

Later in my teens, I became obsessed with Madonna. I loved her from the very beginning--from Borderline and Lucky Star. I loved her funky sense of style and her no-apologies attitude. I spent hours in my room making up dances to her songs (I remember some moves to White Heat to today!). I bought every magazine cover with her face on it and to this day I arrive to the music store to purchase her album (okay, now I visit iTunes!) on the day it becomes available. Anyone that knew me in high school or college associates me with Madonna. From time to time you'll see a post on my Facebook wall letting me know of some Madonna news. 

There are other less specific things I "collect"....like coloring books (some of my Precious Moments books are over 15 years old), crayons, stuff with Chickadees on it (my favorite bird), and of course books. 

I just packed the fifth bin of my "stuff" for container shipment. I have a lot yet to pack, despite weeding things at every turn. I guess that Library degree and the weeding skills that accompanied it are coming in mighty handy. But what to do with these collections of things? And why do we collect things to begin with? Psychology Today has an webpage repository to discuss it! In recent years there's been the whole hoarding phenomena brought to light---with full blown TV shows and now it's considered a disorder (Hoarding Disorder!). As I said previously, I'm not a hoarder or a pack rat; however, I have carried certain things with me throughout my life. At this juncture the evaluation process is more hefty. More deliberate. 

After a little online research--as a librarian that's pretty much a requirement--I liked what The Guardian has to say about why we collect. There can be different reasons for different people and ages, of course, but the following seemed to define my reasons:

"..another is that collecting is motivated by existential anxieties – the collection, an extension of our identity, lives on, even though we do not."

For me it is about my identity and what I feel I connect to and what represents some part of me. However, I am certainly NOT Madonna nor do I have dreams of being famous (published, but not famous). Perhaps more interestingly, at the end of that Guardian article is the comment that humans have only been collecting things for the last 12,000 years when they gave up their nomadic lifestyles and settled in one location. While I will not become a nomadic herder in Mongolia, it has been their traditional way of life for centuries and 45% of the population yet lives that way. But in a way, I am becoming a type of nomad. I am packing up and moving to Asia for an entirely new life and the adventure that accompanies it. So what, you may ask, makes the cut?

Well, the wolf stuff will journey the Pacific because myself, Zorig, and Enji all LOVE the wolf. This is one of those "signs" that I wrote about previously. In fact, Enji tells me there is a superstition related to wolves in Mongolia--if you see a wolf, you'll get lucky three years. I LOVE this. So much better than all the bad luck that seems to accompany OUR superstitions (ladders, black cats, etc). So my wolf items will find a new home in Mongolia. 

My Chickadee mug.

As for Madonna, I just don't know. Perhaps a few items will go...but the Sex book, while it was a scandal when it came out....seems silly to own in the here and now. (But I will read through it tonight before discarding it!) The coloring books go! I will be hosting afterschool activities at ASU and coloring is such a peaceful and relaxing thing to do. I also purchased three new boxes of Crayola crayons.....because YES, I am a crayon snob! My chickadees will go--a mug, a small picture. They make me smile....and remind me of a dear friend with whom I share a love of birds. 

So I guess I'll end with this....what do you collect? Why do you collect it? And what will your collection matter in long run? Would you take it halfway around the world with you?