here. here. here.

What can I possibly say? I’m stunned every time I step outside – in the morning, on a break from training, in the early evening and again when the stars come out. Even right now – sitting on the employee community center porch, Half Dome towering over me turning gold in the sunset. There is so much to see, so so so much, I already feel like there will never be enough time here. I am careening blindly toward this: Yosemite is a lover I will always long for. I am falling madly, as I always do, and right now is the nervous, terrifying, full-of-anticipation first few weeks of a love yet to be determined. Are you really into me, Yosemite? I don’t know how long I will stay, but the wonder and amazement and big-sweeping-knockout emotions they invite are ridiculously alluring. I don’t know how this will go, but right now, there is this: I am nearly in tears many times a day. There is a river right behind the employee tents that is perfect for wading into after a run to Yosemite Village. There is pizza for 50% off to be eaten at the edge of the meadow looking up on Half Dome. There is a job at the stables with my name on it. There are hundreds of faces I want to put names to, hundreds of trails I want to memorize, hundreds of ways the light makes the valley look. I think this will take a while. I hope it takes a while.