Not an Adventure: My Reality

This weekend was a (mostly) a great one after spending a terrific night in Louisville on Friday. We enjoyed gorgeous weather (though it did get a little too hot in our house for Matt's sake - which was thankfully resolved by purchasing a new air filter for the air conditioner... NOT by calling someone to fix it), and saw some great friends.

Saturday night was spent at a dinner party at the home of our friends Jenna and Lex, friends I met back in DC when they lived in Annapolis. Years later, after their move to Dallas and our move to Denver, they decided to come back to Colorado (much to my excitement). They are terrific people with gigantic hearts. Lex made a ridiculously amazing meal for the guests (I mean, it could have been on some Food Network show or something!), and it was great to meet their friends out here and welcome them to our fun city.

But this post won't be one of my typical posts with the sharing of funny times or pictures... I have really had it on my heart to share some of what we talked about that evening. No, it's not fun or light, so I don't blame you if you move on to another blog right about now. But, it is something that has been weighing on my heart for the past year changing the very core of who I am and want to be... so I thought I'd share a little.

As I've mentioned in some of my previous posts throughout the school year, the current program I'm in for urban education is a pretty progressive program focused on not only producing good teachers, but teachers who are willing to make a change for social justice. Immersing myself in the world of poverty, prejudice, discrimination, inequality, and apathy has not been an easy journey. But despite the hard work (and many tears), I can honestly say that I have grown more as a person - and as a Christian - during this last year being forced to confront the realities so prevalent, yet often ignored, in our country. Getting a solid understanding of what far too many people go through in this country has rocked my world.

And with the new outlook on life (or my "social justice lens" as my classmates and I call it), everything looks so much different than it ever did to me before. I see the world in a new way. I see people in a new way. And wow, it is not easy. Matt has been a terrific supporter as I often came home in tears, or got extremely passionate in dicussions about injustices going on around me or the prejudice and inequality built into so many of our country's systems of functioning. In many senses, it has given me a newly defined understanding of what CS Lewis talked about as being the "weight of glory". With my eyes wide open to these things, I know it is a burden that I alone cannot bear.

Yet, I am all too aware that many people do not see the world the same way that I do. Many people do not believe that prejudice still exists. Many people do not believe that inequality is "that big of a deal". Many people think that we have solved all of our problems and that children that go to bed hungry every night simply need parents who will work harder to provide for them. I do not blame people with these opinions, I just know that they are likely not living in the reality that most people in our country are living in. We too easily can build comfortable bubbles for ourselves - worlds that are simple and easy to live in. Worlds that work in ways that benefit us best. Worlds that speak of love and kindness yet express intolerance or ignorance through our behaviors. Worlds that ignore the hardships of others because it is simply easier to. I know I've lived in these worlds.

At dinner on Saturday night, in front of 10 people (only 2 of which I knew), I entered into this conversation. I sometimes wonder if Matt is rolling his eyes when this stuff comes up... "oh no, here she goes again talking about the importance of equitable education impacting social justice, leading to decreasing poverty, leading to breaking down stereotypes, leading to empowering people of all shapes and sizes, leading to changing the world, blah blah blah". But Matt has never rolled his eyes. He may not be as loud as I am (who is, really?), but I know he feels it all too. And so in the presence of a new friend, who happens to be African-American, I embarked upon this touchy subject and started asking him about his experience living in Boulder. Now, for those of you that are unfamiliar with Boulder, it is a wonderful and progressive place that preaches tolerance and liberalism, yet is home to very little other than white middle-upper class folks. The (few) black students at CU rarely stayed in Boulder after college, and since my new friend not only stayed, but decided to join the police department, I was curious to hear his thoughts.

Now, you may think this is crazy. Why am I asking this poor guy, who I just met, about his experience as a black man in Boulder? I am SO rude! But I tell you what - the more we talked (with everyone else listening closely), the more I could tell that he was more than willing to share his stories - almost like he had been waiting for someone to acknowledge that life has been different for him. And with walls down, we talked. And I heard about how often he got pulled over in his car (night or day) when he never drank, did drugs, nor sped (and how his white friends there vouched that they never once got pulled over); I heard about how people calling for help from the police have asked for a white cop upon his arrival to the scene; I heard about how 2 Hispanic kids who were simply eating some treats outside of Whole Foods had the cops called on them saying they had stolen the food (which they most certainly had not); I heard about people gawking at him and other black friends because they were so out of place; and most importantly, I heard from a kind and intelligent man that life as a black man in Boulder was not fun. He recently decided to change police districts thanks in part to his experiences in Boulder, and he and his wife have since moved to Louisville. But as we talked, we all shared about the sad reality that prejudice, intolerance, and ignorance is far too prevalent in our society.

At first, these things make me angry. Livid. But then, they make me incredibly sad. Sad for those that are daily faced with unkind, hurtful comments/situations/looks and additional hurdles/barriers to jump throughout life. Sad for those that have taken part in creating the way the world works like this. Sad for all humans who ultimately lose when this kind of hate and unlove is manifested. Sad for those that don't believe this is a problem.

I'm not exactly sure why I wanted to share this story. I think part of it is to put some of these thoughts that are racing through my head on paper. Part of it is to share about the lives of others around us. Part of it is in the hopes that maybe others around me will start looking at the world for what it really is, and not how we hope it is. I have come to a point in my life where I feel that if I don't do anything to start making changes in this world, then I am a part of keeping it the same. That certainly may not be your burden, but I do hope that we can all start seeing others for the true value that they are as humans. Not as a man, woman, rich person, poor person, Caucasian, African-American, Hispanic, disabled person... we are all humans. And we all deserve the opportunity to live life to the fullest without the barriers created by intolerant/ignorant humans.

Several months ago, I was moved to write (for myself) an essay about my faith and what it looks like.  I'll finish today's ramblins with a small excerpt from it that I think applies to all of this stuff I've been talking about:

In my mind, love is not reserved simply for our fellow Christians, our family, or our friends. Love, while certainly a feeling or emotion, is also an action, something by which every Christian should be living. Is not love the entire basis of our faith? (Romans 5:8, John 3:19, Mark 12:29-31) And if that is true, should love not be the number one thing demonstrated in our lives as Christians? Should love not be what sets us apart as Christians? Love is an attractive, desirable, and powerful thing, and I believe it is also the answer to the inequities that exist all around us. We live in a country that has such a large gap between the privileged and the unprivileged that those of us who are privileged never even have to stop and realize that we are. We have the luxury of not thinking about or admitting that millions of people are living in poverty, struggling to get food on a daily basis, facing constant barriers in every aspect of life, and hoping for a mere ounce of respect from day to day. They are at a disadvantage in almost every way possible, yet too many of us as privileged Christians tend to see the poor as a pet project or something that will simply always exist no matter what we do. This saddens me. As Christians, helping the poor and less privileged should be a top priority. Rectifying the extreme inequalities and inherent disadvantages in our system should be on our minds at all times. If love is not caring so much about your fellow humans (God's creations) that you absolutely will do everything in your power to give them access to all that is good, then I am not sure what it is.

Love as an action also seeks to address racism, sexism, homophobia, ageism and all the other "isms" that exist. How can we sit by and allow these forms of hate to exist in a world that God created? This will always baffle me, as Christians seem far too quiet and unconcerned on most of these issues. If you are a Christian, I believe your love of God and desire to do His will should lead you to a life filled with love towards ALL of your neighbors whether straight, gay, Christian, Muslim, Black, White, etc. And not just in "theory". Our love should be seen! What are we doing to make this world look more like what God truly envisioned it to be? If God is against "the gays", then He is against all of us. I see no difference, for we are all God's creation.

Minnesota & Bambi

Summer has had a few hiccups, but overall, I'd say it's been off to a nice start.  I love summer.  If I'm being honest, it's maybe my second favorite season, or maybe third (behind Fall and Winter)... so I guess I like summer.  I love the activities it affords: the late nights sitting on patios with friends, the seemingly endless hours of sun, the lack of needing outerwear, the outdoor concerts, the camping, the roadtrips, the Slip n Slides (well, I guess that activity last happened 20+ years ago, but it was still fun), the delicious cold beverages, and the list goes on.  I know Matt enjoys those things as well, though his feelings toward summer also include an extreme disdain for heat (and the resulting sweat-stained clothes he ends up with daily).  I'll admit it, we occasionally sleep in our guest bedroom to sneak away from our attic bedroom which is air conditioned yet still somehow keeps us awake on hot summer nights. Oh, and I hate mosquitos, which I thought CO had very few of only to somehow acquire about 30 bites in the last few days.

At any rate, besides a few setbacks (discussed later in this post), we have had a great June.  Last night, for instance, was spent at the Louisville Street Faire hanging out with friends, catching The Samples, and ending the night on my dad's deck talking and laughing for hours, listening to music, smoking stogies (well, he and Matt took part in that activity), and enjoying the beautiful summer evening.  Not too shabby.  Tonight we are going to a dinner party to celebrate the arrival of two great friends to Denver before later celebrating some friends' engagement.  We have somehow packed our schedules for the summer - for which I am grateful (though also secretly wishing for a few days/weeks of quiet nights in!).

Back to the last few weeks, since I've been so delinquent in blogging about our adventures.  One of Matt's friends from high school got married in Minnesota, so we drove back for a long weekend.  We had a great time visiting Matt's family, catching an awesome Twins game (thanks to our fabulous friends, the Campbells, who got us Ah-mazing seats behind home plate), and having a great time at the wedding.  It was a terrific weekend.  All until, of course, the drive home...

Twins won!!

Heading to the wedding:

The reception was a the Hazletine Golf Course:

One of Matt's best friends from high school (who now works on the David Letterman show - cool, huh?) :)

The three Austin boys:

Early Sunday morning (well, I guess it wasn't all that early once we finally got out the door...if you know Matt, you know why!), we hopped in the car and started the long drive back.  Not but a few hours into the 14 hour drive, Lincoln started ralphing (living up to his more accurate name, Stinker).  And I mean, the dog couldn't stop barfing.  Poor little bugger.  We pulled over after the first (and most disgusting) incident on the blanket of the backseat (which we decided was too gross to clean, so we threw it out), but then proceeded to simply put his head out the window to do his thing while we drove.  The end result was a pretty pathetic looking dog and a lot of dog vomit baked by the hot sun onto the side of our car.

Then we killed Bambi in western Nebraska (yikes).  This lead to an impromptu overnight stay in the thriving metropolis of Ogalala, Nebraska and many hours on the phone with the insurance company/auto body shops, etc.  Cut to almost two weeks later and the car is still in the shop (sad!  I miss Trixie, but I also mostly hate the rental car I have...).  But we're getting by and extremely thankful that Trixie (our Rav4) was the only casualty of the accident. 

You can see some of Bambi's fur still stuck in the car.  :(

It was about 95 degrees out the next day as we waited patiently for ANY tow truck to take us back to Denver.  Lincoln tried to find ways to stay cool as we waited, and waited...

Finally, we got a ride back.  We spent four hours in the cab of this tow truck with the driver, his wife, Matt and I all sharing the seat, with Lincoln on our laps.  No air conditioning added an extra nice touch.

To put all things into perspective, a few days after we got towed home, my sister and her boyfriend were in a pretty bad car accident on I-25 just north of Denver.  I'm SO thankful they are okay now, but it was quite scary to rush to the hospital and see them both banged up.  It was even more scary to see the totaled car a few days later - just SOO glad they are okay.  Friends, PLEASE drive carefully.  Saving a few minutes by speeding or drive somewhat carelessly is not worth the potential tragedy.  I have been reminded regularly how life can change in an instant, and I hope everyone takes it easy on the roads this summer.  (That's today's PSA)

So that's all for today folks.  More to come in the days ahead.  So many adventures this summer!  Larsonland is a busy place.

Blog Fail

I admit it, I am a bad blogger.  I don't even know if we can call this a "blog" per se... it's more like my online scrapbook of the random things we do.  I'm not really funny, thoughtful, or thought-provoking in most cases (I'll leave that to our in-person sessions)... but most of all, I'm not consistent.  Something I'm pretty sure most blogs require.

So, for today's non-blog blog post, I thought I'd say that I'm sorry for failing as a blogger, and that I hope to put up some new info on our adventures soon.  Believe me, there have been many.  From hitting Bambi on I-80 at 75mph, to working again (summer vacation, what??), to much much more, I promise Larsonland has been busy.  So, with that, I suppose I'll sign off until this weekend when I hope to catch the "blog" up to speed.  I'll also leave you with this picture of Lincoln Bambi in honor of the poor deer that we sent to deer heaven last week.

Stay tuned....

Larsons visiting Larsonland

Larsonland had some very special guests last week, and we already miss them!  Matt's siblings (currently, all of the Larson siblings - Sara will no longer technically be a "Larson" come next summer...) came to visit driving straight from a U2 concert in Winnipeg to make it to Denver in time for the Jeopardy watch party.  We had an amazing time with them and were so grateful for the several days to just catch up, hang out, and enjoy the great State of Colorado. :)  

Talking the dogs on a walk around Wash Park: 

Tailgating and catching the Big Lebowski at Film on the Rocks (@ Red Rocks):

 

Stealing some pool time at my sister's apartment complex:

Heading to Larimer Square for dinner at Osteria Marco (yum!):

And of course a trip to Yogurtland!

While Jacob and David hiked a fourteener in the wee hours of the morning (congrats to them!), we enjoyed a much less strenuous morning and a DELICIOUS breakfast at Snooze:

And Friday night was spent back at Red Rocks tailgating for the Dispatch concert:

It was an awesome time, and hopefully the Larsons got a great taste of our fabulous State (they also enjoyed some fun time hiking a flatiron in Boulder and visiting a few breweries, but I was at a mentoring session, thus I have no photographic evidence).  We really loved sharing our lives with them and look forward to having more Larson family members visit whenever they can! 

As for us, we are off to Minnesota tomorrow!  A LONG drive is awaiting, but we are excited to visit Matt's folks, catch a Twins game (thank you Campbells!!!), and attend Cody's wedding!  TTFN.