In April of 2011, I was nudged toward (yet another) graduate program of study.  That made for my second in a row after completing a Masters degree.   Other than a whirlwind endurance hike in November, I haven’t been out on the trail.  The last three planned hikes have been canceled for a variety of reasons:  heat, family illness, work.

But I am done.  As of about a week ago, all of  my coursework is finished.  I’ve worked out a new contract schedule this year that gives me an entire week off in mid-October and another one off in early February.   November, December, and March will still offer the standard school-schedule breaks for me.  My one week off this summer was spent taking my family on a vacation in Dallas.  I stopped at the Cabela’s in Allen, TX on the way home to show Bogie the stuffed bears and look at backpacking gear with Bear Bait.   With the heat and the drought, I’ve put a hold on all outdoor trips except those to the neighborhood pool.

But Autumn is coming, and this drought has to let up eventually.

A co-worker of mine found a whole stack of 2011 Backpacker magazines at a recycling facility so she grabbed them for me and left them on my desk with a note.  I come home from work, grab a magazine, and meet my boys at the pool.   I work out, then read.  Dream.

Grad school put my OHT plans on hold for a year, but I’ve not given up on that just yet.  Kat‘s schedule won’t work out where he can join me in October and February, but he’s already ahead of me on the trail anyway.  If I can count on him for weekend extraction . . . maybe this year will be the one for finishing OHT.

Momma has finally decided to join me and the boys out on the trail.  I’ve purchased some more gear toward that end – and, as I get back into the routine of this blog, I’ll post more about it.

Time to brush the dust off of my backpack and pray for rain.