Sending off July and Koyo

I finished up July by sorting books and belongings and shoes. We're single-handedly supplying Value Village with inventory for the rest of the year.

All of the memorabilia I've squirrelled away, we're keeping. Maybe someday I'll have a stonier heart and be able to part with these things. But, as a for instance, I have the journal my great-grandmother kept while she was away at boarding school in her teens. I saved this stuff for a reason, you know?

We got home yesterday from sending Koyo off on his roadtrip east. We went with him as far as the Icicle River and hiked the Gorge in the wonderful dry heat and camped one night at Ida Creek (in the best site! wh00t!). He called it Camping 101 and he seemed to have a great time. It was hot enough that he and I both went swimming in the very cold river, with a big initial kiai from him and much whimpering from me. But it was great once we got used to it.

Yesterday, we waved each other off in opposite  directions on Highway 2. It was hard to let him go on without us, both because we've gotten very attached to him and because the road was calling us. But we'll be following him easterly soon enough, and he's hoping to come and see us someplace warm at winter break.