Well I'm back in the good ole Twin Cities and stickin around for the foreseeable future!
The last few weeks at Itasca just flew by and it was both fantastic and terribly sad at the same time! I wish I could stay up there all summer! It's amazing how magical it is to be so close to so much nature. I could walk outside and immediately hear 10 different bird species from my porch. Just one minute away and I was at a huge, beautiful lake, where it was not uncommon to see beavers and otters (okay, the otters are not so common, but I did see them once!) swimming around, ducks galore, and eagles and ospreys swooping and soaring and fighting over fish. Not to mention a gorgeous sunset every night. One minute in the other direction and I was in the middle of the woods, full of deer and foxes and bears and of course more birds birds birds!
I miss the quietness and solitude of standing alone in the forest. No sounds of traffic, no generators humming, just birds and bugs singing and buzzing. I miss the way the outdoors brings people together... you can't sit inside surfing the web or watching tv when there's so much to do! There was always something to do! We could go hiking, canoeing, kayaking, biking, play frisbee, volleyball, soccer, or just sit around and talk. And there was always someone awesome around to do those things with. Anyone who loves the outdoors and loves nature knows this feeling, and knows how difficult it is to describe.
But alas, all good things come to an end. Suddenly class was over, and all of the students were studying for finals. Then it was the day of the final, it was over, and we were grading tests. The last few days were carefree and lovely. Then I was packing up my cabin, loading up the car and saying goodbye (for now).
After driving for 4 hours, watching the wilderness transform into flatness and city, I rolled up in Minneapolis and stepped outside into what felt like a sauna... I hauled all my crap inside and thought I was going to die. I spent just a day in hot hot Minneapolis before heading to hot hot Madison for the weekend. It was strange to realize that I hadn't been in Madison since January, when I got back from Spain! And before that, another four months since last summer! So I hung out with the family, enjoyed beautiful Madison, saw my friend Molly Jones and heard about all her adventures in New Zealand and Australia, watched the España crush Italy in the Euro 2012 football (aka soccer) championship, before turning around and heading back up to MN!
And so here I am, back in the cities and back in the real world, with just a part-time job and not sure what else to do with myself all summer.
The last few weeks at Itasca just flew by and it was both fantastic and terribly sad at the same time! I wish I could stay up there all summer! It's amazing how magical it is to be so close to so much nature. I could walk outside and immediately hear 10 different bird species from my porch. Just one minute away and I was at a huge, beautiful lake, where it was not uncommon to see beavers and otters (okay, the otters are not so common, but I did see them once!) swimming around, ducks galore, and eagles and ospreys swooping and soaring and fighting over fish. Not to mention a gorgeous sunset every night. One minute in the other direction and I was in the middle of the woods, full of deer and foxes and bears and of course more birds birds birds!
I miss the quietness and solitude of standing alone in the forest. No sounds of traffic, no generators humming, just birds and bugs singing and buzzing. I miss the way the outdoors brings people together... you can't sit inside surfing the web or watching tv when there's so much to do! There was always something to do! We could go hiking, canoeing, kayaking, biking, play frisbee, volleyball, soccer, or just sit around and talk. And there was always someone awesome around to do those things with. Anyone who loves the outdoors and loves nature knows this feeling, and knows how difficult it is to describe.
But alas, all good things come to an end. Suddenly class was over, and all of the students were studying for finals. Then it was the day of the final, it was over, and we were grading tests. The last few days were carefree and lovely. Then I was packing up my cabin, loading up the car and saying goodbye (for now).
After driving for 4 hours, watching the wilderness transform into flatness and city, I rolled up in Minneapolis and stepped outside into what felt like a sauna... I hauled all my crap inside and thought I was going to die. I spent just a day in hot hot Minneapolis before heading to hot hot Madison for the weekend. It was strange to realize that I hadn't been in Madison since January, when I got back from Spain! And before that, another four months since last summer! So I hung out with the family, enjoyed beautiful Madison, saw my friend Molly Jones and heard about all her adventures in New Zealand and Australia, watched the España crush Italy in the Euro 2012 football (aka soccer) championship, before turning around and heading back up to MN!
And so here I am, back in the cities and back in the real world, with just a part-time job and not sure what else to do with myself all summer.
