Susan Munroe

the Wasatch from above

I had to run to catch my flight today. The relative proximity of SLC International to my home in Cottonwood Heights made me a bit more complacent than I should have been. The good news is I made it. The bad is that now I’m sweaty.

It was a spectacular day to lift off. The [...]

John Muir’s take on friendship and love

“To ask me whether I could endure to live without friends is absurd. It is easy enough to live out of material sight of friends, but to live without human love is impossible. Quench love, and what is left of a man’s life but the folding of a few jointed bones and square inches of [...]

Overacheivements

Feeling a bit over-extended these days. But oh, it feels good. I’m making up for five months of being unemployed and purposeless, I guess. A lot is happening all of a sudden. I’m going into my third winter in Utah, and I’m reminded of my third year at Clark University: the first two years were [...]

Living the Dream – Season Three

I started my job as a snowmaker today, though Mother Nature seemed to be sending me a message that, if she was going to be honest, she didn’t really need my help. Thick snowflakes curtained the road up Little Cottonwood Canyon, and Chris’ truck slid around a few corners despite being in four-wheel drive. Fresh [...]

Sweet As Part III: Sawdust and Sunshine

Finally! Let’s get a big YEE HAW from the middle of Dubois, Wyoming (DOO-boys – pronounce it in the French fashion at your own risk). The town is small (900 souls) and high (6,900 feet above seal level), but it’s got a library with wireless internet access. I’ve been here for two weeks, and I’ve [...]

just another day on the ice

We’ve gained nearly four hours of daylight in the two and a half weeks that I’ve been here. 25 minutes per day. The official sunrise for today was 8:52 AM; the sunset was officially over at 4:55 PM, an hour ago. But, as the sun itself has yet to make an appearance above the horizon, “rise” and “set” [...]

this is major tom to ground control

I feel I should begin this entry with a moment of silence.

Perhaps two.

Maybe three moments will allow me to collect my thoughts and begin to put words to the last week. In this quiet time, imagine that you cannot speak. You can barely even think. When you look out the window there is nothing but [...]

The Great Antarctic Adventure

It’s like freshmen orientation for the coolest university in the world. The students are older and the focus is neither intellectual nor academic, but on Sunday I looked around and found that I had been returned to the world of classrooms and cliques. Like freshmen year, I’m on the verge of a new community, watching [...]