today i received an email from an old friend who has been a very active and travelling buddhist since i've known her (12 years more or less). for three years, she was in silent retreat at diamond mountain located in a very dry and remote area of arizona. hej, what an intriguing place i found in what goes on there and the creative group work put into its architecture. and it's less than 1000 miles from me, making that close by texas standards.

writing about texas, the trains have been blowing harder past our house after someone was killed on the tracks this past monday. apparently, the deceased was an 18-year old deaf beauty queen who was taking a shortcut to her mother's work. the night after it happened, i heard the horns so loud that they woke me up (which they rarely do), and i found out a few days later on BBC, to which i am a reverent reader.

so, i am finished with my online classes and most of my pre-service stuff for my teaching certification minus one teacher interview which is in transit, this being the 6th grade counselor at my school. i don't know if it will be easier, harder, or just different. it's the tests really that i'm not considering to be very pleasant.