The traveling veteran, the Fire Girl Subaru, on an adventure in the Gallatin Range, southwestern Montana.
Contrary to general concerns expressed in the bevy of emails I’ve received due to the lack of posting over the past week, I’m still here. Alive. Kicking. Running like mad trying to keep up with life. (And thanks for the concern, gang.)
Nothing new there.
But, there is a (semi) valid excuse for the internet silence. The Fire Girl Suby, my well-loved and well-traveled partner of the past several years, has officially bitten the dust. Hard. Extremely hard. As in KIA.
The old Subaru creaked and rattled through many an adventure. We lost a rear door panel trying to shimmy through a canyon in south Texas. Chased forest fires in Yellowstone and gained entrance to more “emergency services only” areas than I care to remember. I slept in it far too many times, and it’s seen temperatures from 115F+ to -30 and below. And, this winter, we rather memorably lost a tire on the drive from Austin to Vermont, resulting in me tearing up on the New York State Freeway and wondering what the hell I was doing with my life.
It all worked out in the end, or is in process of doing so. Somehow I think life is always a process of working itself out, one way or another.
I’m in the midst of welcoming a new vehicle into Fire Girl land, but, needless to say, in between a string of weeklong work trips for Orvis (about to head to the IFTD [International Fly Tackle Dealer] show in Orlando on Tuesday, matter of fact), a four-day trip to Birmingham, and the fact I now live over an hour’s drive from the nearest airport, life has been a little mad.
June and early July have been a run of 60-and 80-hour work weeks, lots of travel, and late night hours. I got home from work last night to discover the entire contents of my pantry added up to a largely empty jar of Vermont peanut butter, one packet of fancy sardines, a tub of coconut oil, and three eggs. I opted for eggs cooked in coconut oil, sardines on the side. (Questionable win.)
The fact that I had no transportation for part of that time complicated things a wee bit.
Never have I been more thankful for the little family of coworkers I have here… some pretty awesome folks helped me out in a jam and I’m been shocked by the offers of help.
Good people make all the difference.
Anyway, extremely long-winded story made short, I now, for the first time in Vermont, have truly reliable transportation to get me out in the field and on adventures. Look for more photos and stories coming your way soon.
In the meantime, be sure to avail yourself of this offer for Fire Girl readers, from the good guys over at Think Tank Photo:
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Tags: Fire Girl Photography
{ 2 comments… read them below or add one }
Glad all is well, and you are having a busy summer! Enjoy your new vehicle, I always hate parting with my old ones. To many miles and to many memories!
Ray, it was definitely tough. Lots of miles, lots of memories, lots of wild adventures. Here’s hoping the next one goes through even more craziness.
Hope you’re well and getting out to fish a bit!