Hopes and Dreams, Past and Present

Welcome to the new year, my friends!

Before I jump eagerly into what is to come, I would like to review what last year has done for me.

One year ago I packed up all my things, got a big chocolate malt (a sure sign of a difficult change taking place,) and drove away from the four-year dream. While this was hard to do and I periodically miss Goshen, leaving was ultimately the best decision I could have made, and I do not for a moment regret it. I have felt so free this year. Free from the stress--both social and academic--of school, and free from the stricture of the system. Now that I am not locked in to finishing school in four years I am able to consider so many different, irregular opportunities, and to tailor my life to my own wishes.

And, much as I hate the phrase, I have learned so much about myself this past year. Yech. I actually said it. But it's true. I have learned about what I want and what I don't want, where I like to be and where I don't want to be, who I want to surround myself with and who it is time to say good-bye to. I feel free to be the knitting, reading, fiddling, writing homebody that I enjoy being without worrying that I am missing out on something better. I have learned how to live with new people and how to create a community out of the place I am given. I have learned how to work hard and how to relax completely.

Back to a year ago. I knit like a fiend and watched The Office through the winter while emailing dozens of farms and generally freaking out about where I was going to intern. I turned 21 and celebrated uproariously (ha, tricked you there, didn't I?), I started working on the short story novel...thing...that is inching slowly along, keeping me happily occupied at about a page a month, and I learned to spin on a drop spindle. In February I was finally accepted at the farm, and at the end of March I started work.

At the farm, I rediscovered the joy of music by playing at open mics with Heath. I baked bread and made granola. I grew more huckleberries than I ever want to look at again. I walked on five foot high stilts. I discovered that I don't really like to be around people much, especially when there are mosquitoes and heat. I learned to spin on a spinning wheel. I realized that I really love young adult fiction. I read a lot of books. I learned how to darn socks. I canoed down the Milwaukee river, singing songs. I trespassed, swam, and hunted morels at a nature preserve. I crossed the Milwaukee river barefoot in November. I drove a co-oworker to the hospital. I cursed at chickens. I lived through a painful board meeting. I caught a snake in a trash can. (Well, I took photos while Heath caught a snake in a trash can.) I cut my dreads off. I worked really freakin hard. I gaffed. I laughed. I hugged people. I talked to friends and strangers. I wore really dirty clothes. I lived for seven months amongst beauty and friendship.

And then I left.

Enter the time of transition: transitioning back to living at home, to not having a strict schedule, and to worrying about next year. Winter is a wonderful time. Ordinary people hate winter. Farmers love winter. I have spent the first few months of winter working at home and with my fiber-enthused neighbor, but mostly reading, writing, knitting and spinning. This is my time to gather my energy for the year ahead, and I am taking full advantage of it.
Looking ahead to next year.

In a startlingly short time, I will be starting school again. Not at Goshen, but at the UW Madison. I was recently accepted as a transfer student, and I will be attending to take a few classes in things I'm interested in. I hope to take Spanish, soil science, literature, and creative writing. I will be living in Madison with the family of one of my best friends, and I'm looking forward to getting to know them better. I am excited about school--at least, I am when I'm not trying to navigate the UW's dumbcuss website, but let's not talk about that--because I miss learning things, and having inspiring professors. I'm also looking forward to learning whether literature is something I was to pursue further.

Then, in the middle of May, when the semester ends, I will be heading up to La Crescent to intern at Hoch Orchard, the largest completely organic orchard in Minnesota. I am really psyched about working here. I'm interested in learning more about fruit, and I am sure to learn a lot. They grow mostly apples, but also apricots, plums, blueberries, raspberries, cherries, and strawberries.This year they will experiment with integrating some animals into their system: ducks, chickens, and pigs. It was terribly foggy when I visited, but I have it on good authority that it is drop dead gorgeous up there, mountainous even to someone from the Driftless region. The orchards are planted on hills so steep that we tried to build a giant snowball by starting a small ball at the top and rolling it down when we visited. An intern friend of mine from another farm will be starting there in April, so I will be going in knowing someone, which I appreciate. A lot of the other workers will be international, so I will have lots of opportunity to practice my Spanish.

I got a really good feeling about the people at this farm. They talked frequently about striving for sustainability of lifestyle for themselves and their employees. We work six days a week but start late and end early, and every Friday night is pizza and movie night. The farmers do all the cooking (major bonus, in my opinion,) buy all our food, and pay twice as much as last year.

Between school and farming, I have a lot to look forward to. I am exceedingly grateful for all the choices I have, and for all the people who have supported and helped me through all the tumultuous decisions of this lovely time in my life.

I am in for a splendid year, I believe.