settling back into normalcy

It used to be that it was an exponentially depressing thing to leave the Cornerstone grounds. The last night of the fest would consist of walking around and trying to chew the last bits of meat off of the bone. Waiting for the sun to rise, but somehow hoping that it wouldn't and we could just go on living in between days.

Now, inevitably, I'm just happy to be in air conditioning and in line of site of a thick mattress. This isn't a bad change... it just means that I probably have a healthier connection to the festival. It saved me in high school by being a place I could be popular for a week, to have friends around. Now it's still a chance to see and work with friends I don't oft get to see, but it's not the crutch that it once was.

I've more to write, but I wanted to post this because it's been sitting on my computer since this morning and I need to get out of the office for the day. More in a couple hours.

I was assigned to swim with the fishes this afternoon. Well, not really, but I was sent out to cover the canoe races down by the lake...and as part of my dedication to journalism I waded out into the lake to take my pictures.

The weather here today might be the BEST weather I've ever experienced at Cornerstone it's nice and breezy and in the low eighties. Compared to a normal hot and humid Cornerstone day it's like heaven on earth.

While I was out there I saw this guy taking a bath in the swimming area.

Third Day on the mainstage yesterday evening. I shot this just before my run in with "The shoulder of DOOM!" (Duh, duh, duuuuuhhhhhh!)

Ouch

It would be a common misconception to think that I wasn't getting any training this week but that would be far from the case. Every day there's a brick... ride somewhere, walk somewhere, ride somewhere, walk somewhere. This combination becomes trickier as the sun begins to set and tonight I performed my very first endo with my thousand-some dollar camera around my neck. Riding back from the mainstage I took a shortcut down a path that heads towards the quad area without riding all the way up to the main street that winds around the grounds. I have a flashlight in my mouth so it's not like I'm invisible, but some guy apparently wasn't watching and walked his shoulder into my solar plexus.

Surprisingly, my life didn't flash before my eyes.... my camera's life did. It survived, but I was a bit worried for a moment. My body, for the most part is ok but I've got a few scratches and things that I'm assuming are going to ache momentarily.

More photos in a bit but I've got to wait for my SLOOOOW USB card reader to suck up a gigabyte worth of images. (10 minutes in and it's halfway downloaded)

In the meantime head over to Steve's blog for some photos

bb_63005.011, originally uploaded by bthemn.