hippies and cowboys

Spring fever hit hard. Like I do, I got the exploring bug, and this time it brought me to a little cafe in rural New York's version of a Hallmark town. For the past half hour I've been sitting here, lazily drinking coffee and halfheartedly working on the last assignments due before spring break, while…

Kiss the Wave // 2018

  I keep trying to think of a song, or a phrase, or a story, to sum up this year. I must have begun writing this half a dozen times, doing the whole reflection thing we all do at the end of the year. This year, the reflecting was hardcore. A few days before Christmas,…

Verbatim.

Some anecdotes from the first month. All quotes used without permission. "I saw the truck you drove here in. It's the color white." - little boy "You crushed it!" - older EMT "Is that your truck?" - everyone "Holy crap, your eyelashes are long." - classmate "So you're the lady that sits there and types?"…

Burger joints, tire treads, and taxidermy signs.

9.18.18 All my life, I've had a really keen sense of place. It's always been important to me to know where I am, and I don't just mean where on a map. It's more of a search for the soul of a place. ...That sounds lofty. But let me try to explain. I have only…

conscientious freshman

Kanakadea Lake. Warning: the geese are super unfriendly. First day of classes, and I get called a "conscientious freshman" by my literature teacher. I took this as a compliment. Apparently I do appear conscientious, or at least somewhat in the know, because other freshmen keep asking me where to find things. (Or do they think…

Dateline: nowhere, USA

Update: it's my third day on campus at A. State! Yay! I feel like I've been here for a really long time. My calves are starting to hurt. If you have ever been to the Alfred State campus, you know that you have to walk up (or down, but mostly up) a steep grade to…