congratulations, larry

october 3, 2009 my little brother, larry, got married. lorenz basil herbst who:

when we were children stuck the wheels to his remote car into my hair and pressed go

played hamsters with me in the dryer

when he was 3 tried to break down the door on an amusement park ride (the hellevator) because it was scaring me

would sit for hours at the table with a mouth full of food that he wouldn't swallow

wouldn't play house with me, but would play "kevin and mom"

threw a baseball clear across the field yelling like crazy for me to move - and it hit me in the temple anyway.

told mom when i had caught the living room rug on fire, then promptly found me hiding under the bed and sang "you are in soooooo much trouble"

would only play barbies with me if he could be the car that talked and flew

threatened to blackmail me when he saw i had wrote in my diary that i thought bill clinton would be a good president

drew me a large snoopy as a birthday card (i still have it)

after i "bumped" another car in the parking lot, held my hand when i told my mom and also told her not to yell at me because i was really scared

i always admired for being only himself and never compromising (even when it would have been easier)

thank you, larry, for being a terrific brother. i loved every single second (almost) growing up with you. congratulations on your wedding; thanks for giving me a new sister. i'm really happy for you both.

autumn camp trip 2009

the last camping trip of every year is always my favorite. this is for several reasons:

1. not many bugs
2. the colors are starting to change, which everything twenty times more gorgeous
3. wild blueberries are plentiful
4. you do not need to fight the hordes of people for a nice location

for the last four years, we have been going to yellow aster butte for our fall camp trip. i love it there. it is my favorite spot in all of washington. there are tons of tarns all over so almost any camp spot you pick comes with its own little lake, and the views are phenomenal. this year was probably my favorite trip up there (so far). the best part was star gazing (it was so nice just to see them!) and talking late into night. a close second was the two handfuls of blueberries that i stirred into my morning oatmeal.

our camp site view

descending down the next morning