Where is Summer Going?

My posts have been few and far between because I have been very busy lately. I found myself completely absorbed by the University String Orchestra Camp that was held the last week of June. I was one of the head counselors and when all was said and done, I was just grateful that nobody died or went to jail.

Last week, the boy and I went camping up on Madeline Island. For those of you who don't know, Madeline Island is the largest of the Apostle Islands located in Lake Superior. Many of the shops in the area are boasted as being "Wisconsin's Northern most ________" because of how far north the Island is. It was a wonderful place to get away, spend some quality (and distraction-free) time with my love and to get in touch with nature. There is something wonderful about waking up with the sunrise because your body could sense the illumination of your surroundings and could hear the world waking up around you. At home, that interaction with nature simply does not exist and this lack of interaction with nature genuinely leaves a void in my heart. If you'd like to see pictures of my adventures up north, you can view them here:

My Independence Day was spent chilling at my parents. In true American fashion, I was gluttonous and ate way too many burgers and brats. My siblings all left and since Zak just dropped me off on his way to work, I was stuck sipping on some quality brews and playing with sparklers by myself.

Tomorrow, I start my new job. I am a little nervous, but mostly excited. I am kind of sad because I have decided that I will not be auditioning for the Madison Symphony in August, after all. My time that should have been spent preparing for an audition was instead consumed by my job search, but ultimately, steady employment is more important than a possible gig. I hope that I will be able to audition for a couple of grad schools sometime soon. It is unfortunate that my practice for grad school will largely be major concertos and unaccompanied Bach, yet my practice for major orchestras has to be excerpts. It makes it hard to kill two birds with one stone.

Zak and I are also taking a yoga class together this summer. So far, it has been a great way to do something new together. I enjoy the laid-back atmosphere of the class and the mental and physical strength I have derived from the practice of yoga.

Summer is quickly passing me by, but I believe I have been taking advantage of the weather and of my bout of temporary unemployment.

Namaste

Let's Go Fly A Kite

Sunny day, steady breeze, 78 degrees. Yup, perfect kite flying weather. I took the octopus kite out for a little flight today. His eight little tails have issues unless the wind is completely consistent, so he took a couple of nose dives (do octopi have noses?). Overall, I'd say it was a great day to fly a kite! Not only did I get some good quality entertainment, I got lots of compliments on the kite from the girls who work at the coffee shop, and gained a few freckles, too. Oh, how kite flying is fast becoming my favorite hobby!

Cinema

Those of you who know me personally are aware that I have worked at the same movie theatre for over nine years. Considering that I am only 24, that is quite a long time (28% of my life to be exact). Because I recently graduated, am relocating to Madison and recently received a demotion (a large corporation with a different management structure bought us out), I decided to look elsewhere for employment.

Leaving is a bittersweet feeling. While I know that I am on to bigger and better things (I recently got hired by a hip mom-and pop shop in Madison's premiere shopping district), many of the people at the theatre are like my family, and the theatre was part of my life during some of my most formative years. Those free movies were great, too. However, I will hopefully never have to work a Christmas again in my life, or have a 17 year old give me an attitude about how he didn't bring his ID for an R-rated movie, or have to clean up a child's vomit that doesn't look any different than the slushie he just drank. Change always feels a little strange, but I am embracing the positive aspects of my uncertainty.

Today's Hike

For the first time in what seemed like ages, the clouds lifted and the rains ceased. Since my mood is so greatly affected by the weather, I had to take advantage of the beautiful day while it lasted. Since Wisconsin has so few beautiful days, I feel guilty when I don't enjoy nature's gift when she has been nice enough to grant us with her beauty.

A routine hike at Aztalan State Park provided me with just the dose of nature I required. The prairie was full of wildflowers and I spotted several "fairy rings" of mushrooms. I continued on my hike and decided to head off the trail and head towards the river.

The river bank has made life difficult for the maple trees that were brave enough to call this area their home. Consequently, the trees are cragged and the continuously shifting landscape causes the trees to grow in unusual directions. One large tree grew out, parallel to the river, and allowed me to perch myself over the placid waters. With my legs dangling over a large branch, the Beethoven string quartets I was listening to on my iPod were interrupted by the sound of fish slapping the water after they attempted to grab a mid-day snack of mosquitos and mayflies. Songbirds sang their own symphonies and the sound of water lapping the shore aided me in my meditation. It was then that I pondered how different the Crawfish River of today would appear to the indigenous people who called Aztalan their home hundreds of years before. Selfish humans have since polluted the river with farm run-off and byproducts of industry. We could have learned a lot from the ancient inhabitants of Aztalan. By acknowledging the preciousness of our Earth and respecting the miracle of her beauty, we could all have a healthier place to live.

I continued on through the woods and ran into a young white-tailed deer. Because my journey was one of deep thought, I literally stumbled over him. The deer looked at me intently, wondering how such a clumsy biped could possibly have snuck up on him. Our eyes locked for what seemed like minutes before he ran away from me. Bounding down the trail, the young buck's white tail grew smaller as he bounced away. Eventually, the white of his tail was enveloped by the shade of the forest.

The end of my journey found me sitting on top of burial mounds, cross-legged under the shadow of an ancient oak. The view from that hill is of the entire park and of surrounding small dairy farms. Large white clouds contrasted the pale blue sky and it was at this moment that I truly understood the my place in the world. Pondering the interaction between the bucolic scenes of my youth and the endemic mounds built by indigenous peoples centuries before revealed how tiny this moment was in the vast spectrum of time. Barn swallows, hunting for dinner, danced in front of me and grew smaller as they flew towards the horizon. Eventually, they disappeared.