Ten Things - Montana

This was a picture that popped up in one of my Facebook memories this summer. A participant from a YouthWorks youth mission trip to my site in Lame Deer, Montana, had posted it from the summer of 2005. When I "shared" the memory, it prompted so many thoughts and memories that I posted ten things that came to mind. I thought it would be fun from time to time on this blog to post a picture along with "ten things."  Some challenges on Facebook are to share pictures without any explanation. Well, I like the explanations :-)

1. Living for 10 weeks on the Northern Cheyenne reservation in Montana was my first experience (in America) where I was the minority. It was one of the most transformational (and amazing!) summers of my life.
2. Yes, I lived in a high school for a summer! I slept on an air mattress in a classroom, cooked food in the cafeteria, and took showers in the locker room. It's fine when there are 70+ teenagers there. It's a little unnerving when it's just you and your team of 4 over the weekends.
3. I miss those pants. They traveled with me to Thailand, Myanmar, and Lame Deer, Montana. Also, I wish people had tried harder to convince me that they are definitely pajama pants and should not be worn out and about as "regular" pants. I think I was just excited that I had pants that were long enough!
4. Max the guitar is still going strong, all these years later! He replaced "Bently" that fell apart at a youth event in Florida the summer before. I've considered Bently and Max my "learning guitars," and after almost 20(!) years of playing guitar, I don't know that I'll ever upgrade to a non-hand-me-down.
5. This is the room where we did the skit that involved using a teammate's mouth as a "bowl" to eat cereal and milk out of. How did I ever think that was okay?
6. Taco Tuesdays just aren't the same without Indian fry bread from Alfretta.
7. This is where I learned "the eagle song" that spread to my next YouthWorks site in Colorado and everywhere I've gone since then.
8. I still wear my YouthWorks hat. It's definitely not dark blue anymore. I'm kind of sad that I don't have any of my YW shirts anymore. Nonconformist!
9. I've never seen as many shooting stars as I did in that football field outside.
10. Powwow music still gets me pumped up! (Note: I'm not playing powwow music, but this picture makes me think of it!)

Here's the "powwow music" I was referring to: