” ‘And you have no fear,’ said Ransom, ‘that it will ever be hard to turn your heart from the thing you wanted to the thing that Maleldil sends?’
‘I see,’ said the Lady presently. ‘The wave you plunge into may be swift and great. You may need all your force to swim into it…is that not part of the delight?’ “
–C.S. Lewis, Perelandra
Second to last shift at the coffee shop. We close in 50 minutes and there are 7 customers. Wow, maybe this place will make it after all. I would love that more if I were sticking around, but now my emotion is more like, you guys had better leave in an hour so I can close and get out of here. Especially since some of them haven’t bought anything and are just using the free Wifi, and none of these people have tipped a cent. There is currently 28 cents in the tip jar.
Seriously, tip your baristas. We’re pretty poor, most of us, and all you’re doing is helping us buy a sandwich. Or a drink to numb the pain of serving people coffee day in, day out. Baristaing is a specialized skill, and those who do it well deserve a buck thrown their way towards a good meal.
I leave for Montana in two weeks (approximately) and I might have a place to live. At least, I’ve talked with a possible roommate through e-mail and it seems like a good fit. At least, she seems very nice and the place is very affordable. So we’ll just have to see. I’m getting a little nervous about the logistics. We leave the 5th, get there midday on the 7th, and hopefully I’m all moved in by the 9th so I can make the 10-hour drive to Seattle to see James on his days off (he’s coming up there from Ft. Lewis, where he’s stationed for the summer). I really want this to work, because we won’t have seen each other in almost two months, and to be frank and sappy, I miss him. Then I start training in Helena on the 13th.
The logistics of moving across the country are m-e-s-s-y. I admit, I’m as inexperienced as they come. Most of my leases have fallen into my lap, or have been guided by a realty company. And my moves have been on such a microcosmic scale–across town, across campus. Madagascar wasn’t really a move so much as a shift from sedentary to mobile (nothing like living out of a suitcase for four months). Sometimes this 2,000 mile move seems a bit insurmountable.
But it’s a good and necessary change of scenery. As much as I love and will miss Austin, my sweet hometown, I’m ready to move on to the next chapter of my life. I’m in a transitional chapter, deciding what the next few years will look like. I expect nothing to turn out as expected.
But for now, I’m shooting the ducks as they come up. Up next is the move and the crazy week before training, then I start my job. I’m ready for anything God’s ready to throw at me.
Even the Montana winter.
