Fast forward.

Grad school's been on my mind as of late. Instead of actually filling out applications, I've just been doing a lot thinking about where to go: the Cascades? Portland, OR? Maine? Montana? It's hard not to let my mind revert back to the familiar, so naturally Duluth is on my mind for this decision.

I've been making strides (though still not actually filling anything out...) with the process and though I'm not going to attend UMD's program, all this thought has brought back lots of memories from my summer.

If I ever needed a different perspective on life, I could go to Hawk Ridge. Thoughts, like the hills, just seemed to elevate here. Sometimes I felt on the same level as the clouds, as the birds. A good way to see a place you love is to see it from on high, with your feet on the ground.

Part of how I decided not to go to to Duluth for further schooling was the fact that I already know I love it. Today is two months to the day of when I left that wonderful Northern port city; and though I was only there for three months, I feel a relationship to it that I didn't expect upon arrival.

The East holds the familiar. Duluth was new and fresh and hard and big and bright and just what I needed. Like the Kickapoo Valley, I know I'll always be able to come back. Like the Kickapoo Valley, I know I'll only become more passionate about Duluth the more I let myself explore new places.

So I'm going to explore. I'm not even sure I'll go to grad school anymore; what I am sure about is my absolute delight for environmental education. I can simultaneously be educated and the educator -- what a passion! And how lucky I am to have these places, these connections to such different landscapes. For all the bright lights my rural eyes weren't used to, the Zenith City offered beauty of humanity and nature; a fantastic display of all that really makes me excited to ramble on with my life.

"In April I opened my bill,
in May I sing night and day,
in June I change my tune,
in July far, far I fly,
in August away I must."

This.

I feel that, in a couple of years, I'll look back on this first post and think I was pretty silly for starting a blog at this point in my life. There's not much of a reason behind blogging besides that some of the most influential women in my life all have blogs (that I am in love with) and I want to attempt it as a tradition. I suppose it's a good of a reason as any.

I've attempted a blog before, on Blogger nonetheless. My first go was pathetic -- I was such a blithering idiot. High school was important, but really, I knew nothing then! My second attempt was alright, but I just didn't follow through. And though I justified starting it because "I think blogging's pretty cool...that's how I ended up with a nose ring", it was disheartening to think I didn't have a purpose. No cool homestead, no toddlers, no craft-y ideas, no politics, and so on.

But I think I have something now. It's not much, but I'm excited that it can and will grow. I feel like it touches all aspects of my life past, present, and future.

Place. Where I am. Physically. Because where I am physically says a lot about where I am mentally. There can be a disconnect between the two, or there can be a connect. Those relationships amaze me! I see it in myself, I see it in the kids I encounter every day at summer camp, I see it in the elderly, I see it in my parents, my friends, random strangers. I want to explore sense of place, sense of wonder, why rambling and wandering are so important.

The Kickapoo Valley. The feelings I experience here are some of the most intense I've ever had. This is where I grew up, this is where I continue to grow every time I visit.

But I moved.

I went to Northern Wisconsin for college. And I met Lake Superior.

The intense experiences I encountered from the Valley were stirred up again, but in a different place. It was amazing, and I didn't understand it right away. I still don't think I understand it, but I'm trying.

I now find myself at the entrance to the North Shore of Lake Superior. A big port city, me, and an internship.

 Between the Lake and the birches, the kids and the new friends, the independence and the opportunities I have found myself experiencing life in a whole new light. It's great to be here, and I hope your place is great too.