{"id":4182,"date":"2015-01-05T21:18:44","date_gmt":"2015-01-06T05:18:44","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/streamoftheconscious.com\/?p=4182"},"modified":"2015-01-05T21:27:28","modified_gmt":"2015-01-06T05:27:28","slug":"the-future-and-frozen-tundra","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/streamoftheconscious.com\/the-future-and-frozen-tundra\/","title":{"rendered":"The Future and Frozen Tundra"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Yosemite<\/a><\/p>\n

Happy New Year. The future has arrived. Possibly possessed by sun flares and perihelion \u2013 as Earth neared its closest distance from our sun \u2013 I decided to ring in the new year in wild fashion. The boys and I headed to Yosemite with their girlfriend Minnie\u2019s family.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou are completely insane,\u201d Jon informed me as he kissed us goodbye. \u201cGod speed to you all.\u201d<\/p>\n

We arrived at the national park in the late afternoon. It was gorgeous. The last time I was in Yosemite it the fall of 1993. I was a worldly eighth grader ready to prove my independence. Mostly by spending a week at a school sponsored trip.<\/p>\n

\"That's<\/a>

That’s me – bottom left.<\/p><\/div>\n

When we pulled up to the Yosemite Lodge, I had vague recollections of familiarity. I remembered the amphitheater arena for educational lectures, rock climbing and hiking Half Dome. (In retrospect, the rock climbing was a single boulder with an instructor hoisting us up. We really did go on a hike, but I now have misgivings about how far\/high we *really* went. There was totally a scary ledge at some point though.)<\/p>\n

Mostly I remembered the cold. We\u2019d stayed in small cabins, in groups of four or six stacked in bunk beds. My little cabin set our alarms for 4:30 a.m. so we could race to the bathrooms while there was still warm water. Running back to our cabin in towels and sneakers with wet hair turned us to adventurous middle school studentcicles.<\/p>\n

\"Whoa,<\/a>

Whoa, whoa, whoa. That’s crazy talk.<\/p><\/div>\n

This time we were camping Troop Beverly Hills style. I was sharing a hotel room with Search and Destroy. Running water in room was key. Also a modern heater. Oh \u2013 and a large flat-screen TV with PBS Kids for mornings\/evenings when muppets refused to sleep\/settle. (Tangent: I now know more about aardvarks than I ever thought I cared.)<\/p>\n

Minnie\u2019s parents and I promised the gaggle of kiddos s\u2019mores if they behaved during dinner. After the meal, Minnie\u2019s dad asked for an adult quorum vote. \u201cDo you think the kids were good enough to head over to the lounge fire pit for s\u2019mores? Because I personally feel that I deserve a drink.\u201d<\/p>\n

As it turns out, our preschool quartet was not nearly as enthusiastic about melty marshmallow and chocolaty goodness. Search seemed a bit concerned about the disintegrating gelatinous puff ablaze at the end of his stick-turned-branding-iron. No matter, kids gorged on non-toasted \u201cmarshmallow sandwiches\u201d while the adults partook in sugar-laden memories of childhood made new by the accompanying adult beverages. (Mine was of the coffee variety. Because warm drink.)<\/p>\n

\"Grown-ups<\/a>

Grown-ups are weird.<\/p><\/div>\n

The next evening was the big day. New Year\u2019s Eve.<\/p>\n

\"Yosemite<\/a>

Party hats for everyone!<\/p><\/div>\n

After a day of exploration and snow we got gussied up for a fancy dinner and party. Only this time, it was all about the kids. Dinner was at five. But we were going to party until the ball dropped New York style. By which I mean 9 p.m.<\/p>\n

\"Partying<\/a>

Partying the night away.<\/p><\/div>\n

We\u2019d planned to enjoy nature even longer, but decided we were pushing our luck on good behavior. My new year\u2019s resolution: Incite fewer tantrums. Besides, some of the kids started to look a little ill.<\/p>\n

\"They<\/a>

They literally passed out where their heads hit the bed.<\/p><\/div>\n

When Minnie\u2019s baby sister puked up her pasta, it was time to go. Think what you may. But I\u2019m calling this adventure a smashing success.<\/p>\n

May 2015 be filled with discovery, excitement, warmth and the continued enjoyment of good friends.<\/p>\n

\"Yosemite<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Happy New Year. The future has arrived. Possibly possessed by sun flares and perihelion \u2013 as Earth neared its closest distance from our sun \u2013 I decided to ring in the new year in wild fashion. The boys and I … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false,"jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true},"categories":[19],"tags":[1755,316,1754,613,1756],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p3Sbzi-15s","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":3267,"url":"https:\/\/streamoftheconscious.com\/3-innings-in\/","url_meta":{"origin":4182,"position":0},"title":"3 Innings In","date":"April 22, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"The sun is out in full force. It\u2019s 80 degrees outside; the backyard is blizarding with wisteria petals. The neighborhood is perfumed by the scent of gardenias. Baseball is on TV. A rousing amalgamation of t-ball\/basketball\/soccer\/curling is underway just outside the patio doors. It's April. And as spring represents the\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Milestones"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":1775,"url":"https:\/\/streamoftheconscious.com\/oh-brother\/","url_meta":{"origin":4182,"position":1},"title":"Oh Brother","date":"October 14, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"Tomorrow my baby brother is getting married. A year and a half ago he called me; I answered from my hospital bed. \u201cDon\u2019t freak out. But I have something to share.\u201d (For those interested, never a good idea to request a bedridden, hospitalized, highly hormonal pregnant mother of multiples to\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Celebrations"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.streamdoubletrouble.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/10\/Paul-and-Tricia_12-211x300.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":1493,"url":"https:\/\/streamoftheconscious.com\/marshmallows\/","url_meta":{"origin":4182,"position":2},"title":"Marshmallows","date":"June 20, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"It all started with marshmallows. There was a distinct hierarchy on the bus and all middle schoolers were expected to comply: sixth graders were the peons \u2013 they sat at the front of the bus, eighth graders were high and mighty \u2013 they ruled the back with all the maturity\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Family Stories"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":2232,"url":"https:\/\/streamoftheconscious.com\/wineconed-wednesday-leap-year-edition\/","url_meta":{"origin":4182,"position":3},"title":"Wineconed Wednesday \u2013 Leap Year Edition","date":"February 29, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"Because it takes the Earth a little longer than a year to travel around the sun (365 days, 5 hours, 48 minutes, and 46 seconds, to be exact) an extra day was added to the calendar to make up for lost time. (Ha. Ha. Get it?) \"I mark the hours\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "A Nervous Tic Motion"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":2477,"url":"https:\/\/streamoftheconscious.com\/what-happens-in-vegas\/","url_meta":{"origin":4182,"position":4},"title":"What Happens in Vegas","date":"May 10, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"Did you miss me this week? I was off in Sin City. Another year, another tradeshow in Vegas. Last year while I was gone, Destroy said \u201cmama\u201d for the first time. (He didn\u2019t really know what he was saying \u2013 it was more the syllable construction, but that totally still\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Work"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.streamdoubletrouble.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/05\/ThisIsWhatHappensInVegas.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":2623,"url":"https:\/\/streamoftheconscious.com\/pixi-stix\/","url_meta":{"origin":4182,"position":5},"title":"Pixi Stix","date":"July 9, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"The Pixi Stix are here! (I\u2019ve mentioned the muppets' future prom dates before.) And tonight I went to visit them, cooing, \u201cLet me meet my future daughters-in-law\u201d to the consternation of their doting father. They are tiny and perfect and I love them. Born July 3: Claire Elizabeth: 5lbs 4oz\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Baby Photos"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.streamdoubletrouble.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/07\/PixiStix-300x224.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/streamoftheconscious.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4182"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/streamoftheconscious.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/streamoftheconscious.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/streamoftheconscious.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/streamoftheconscious.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4182"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/streamoftheconscious.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4182\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/streamoftheconscious.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4182"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/streamoftheconscious.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4182"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/streamoftheconscious.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4182"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}