Year 49, Day 1

Yesterday was my birthday. We had planned on going to Capitol Reef, but a new battery for the car ate up all our camping money and Merilee has not been feeling well, so this year's trip didn't happen. That pretty much fits the way this year has gone. Now I have to wait until the end of October and Arches for a camping trip.

Back on June 30th, we went to Spanish Oaks Reservoir to go fishing. It is a man-made reservoir with concrete walls that slant at almost 45 degrees. I had caught a smaller fish that I tried to throw back, but it just kind of sat there in the water. Rather than waste it, I decided to try to reach down and take it out of the water. I took one step too far and slipped on the slimy wall. For most people, this would not have been a big deal. I, however, cannot swim. I felt myself being dragged out into the water and it was not long before my feet were not touching anything. I managed to call for help and, fortunately, there were some scouts and their leaders not far away. They were able to get a had net out to me and pull me back in. I never went under completely, and I somehow managed to not panic, but I know how close I came to actually drowning. I have been trying to deal with that event ever since it happened with varying degrees of success. I have still not fully processed it, though I am definitely glad I am still around. I just keep wondering why, because not much has changed since then. My job has become progressively more oppressive and everything is pretty much like it was before, though I still get chills when I remember the feeling of not being able to stop myself from sliding into the water and those thoughts come back at the oddest moments. The year seems to have gotten steadily more strange since.

While we did not get to go camping, we did spend most of my birthday visiting Nine Mile Canyon. Much of what was once a washboarded dirt road is now nicely chip sealed. While that makes the driving much easier, it worries me a bit that the easier access may end up hurting some of the petroglyph sites due to human abuse. I hope that is not the case because the canyon and the art are irreplaceable treasures. That said, we had a great time and I took tons of photos. I even managed to see some sites I had never seen before. It was very enjoyable.

I am treating my birthday much like New Year's Day in that I am making some changes going forward. One is writing again, something I have been neglecting. Another is going a year without soda (one day in a row so far). Anyway, we'll see how successful I am this time around. And with that I will call this one good. My thoughts are just not very organized this evening.