When despair grows in me
and I wake in the night at the least sound
in fear of what my life and my children's lives may be,
I go and lie down where the wood drake
rests in his beauty on the water, and the great heron feeds.
I come into the peace of wild things
who do not tax their lives with forethought
of grief. I come into the presence of still water.
And I feel above me the day-blind stars
waiting for their light. For a time
I rest in the grace of the world, and am free.
— Wendell Berry, The Peace of Wild Things
If you’ve been reading the blog for awhile, you’ll remember that I went to Canyon Falls last August while vacationing with my friends, Kari and Kayla, in Marquette, Michigan, where Kari was attending graduate school. Well, Kari graduated with her MA in Literature this spring, so Kayla and I drove up to Michigan to help her move. No surprise, we spent almost our entire time there going on new hikes, as well as some old favorites!
Read MoreIn 1924, three thousand people gathered for the first mass and dedication of the Sanctuary of Our Sorrowful Mother. At the blessing, Archbishop Alexander Christie offered this prayer: “Let this be a sanctuary of peace for all peoples of the earth and surely in this day a sanctuary is needed. Torn with differences, strife, and grief, the world needs sanctuary where the human spirit can seek peace and consolation.”
Read MoreWhile you might not think of Portland as a particularly volcanic area nowadays (especially compared to other western states like Wyoming), turn back time about 5 million years, and the story would be very different. In southeast Portland, nestled at the top of a quaint neighborhood is Mt. Tabor, an extinct volcanic vent and remnant of this volatile time in Oregonian history. Its cinder cone (a steep conical hill of loose pyroclastic fragments) is part of the Boring Lava Field, an extensive network of Plio-Pleistocene era cinder cones and small shield volcanoes ranging from Boring, Oregon to southwest Washington. This park was my destination for my second nature excursion in the city while visiting for the AWP 2019 Conference.
Read MoreWhile most of the trip was spent attending panels about writing (shout out to the amazing environmentalism in young-adult literature and humor in YA panels I went to) and teaching writing, I did manage to explore the crazy-good food options in the city (try: Screendoor, Butterfly Belly Asian Cuisine, and Salt & Straw ice-cream). Most importantly, though, I was able to sneak away for some nature excursions. The first of these was at Washington Park, one of the oldest parks in Portland, in the heart of the city.
Read MoreIt’s at about this time every year that I get horribly nostalgic. Facebook and Instagram are flooded with those “remember what you were doing X years ago” posts—all photos from my time studying abroad in Oxford, England, three years ago. It’s not so much wanderlust that compels me to be mopey and stare at my Oxford photos for an hour at this time of the year; it’s missing the quotidien of living in another place, the same melancholy I get thinking about Kentucky now that I’m in Minnesota. It’s missing eating Nando’s at least once a week, going to lectures in beautifully old stone buildings crawling with ivy, hot chocolate and millionaire’s shortbread from Caffé Nero, the Marston footpath being flooded from the relentless rain, and waiting for my creative writing tutorial on a bench beside the river.
Read MoreIf you know me, you know I love plants. One of my favorite places in the entire world is a botanical garden, and I’m currently trying to turn my apartment into a greenhouse. So I never pass up the opportunity to try out a new conservatory or botanical garden.
Read MoreOver Christmas break, my fiancé, Ryan, and I had the amazing opportunity to travel to Rome, Italy (check out those adventures here if you haven’t yet). The cheapest flights to Rome were from NYC, and when the opportunity presents itself to have a day in NYC, you don’t turn it down. Both of us have already done most of the really big touristy attractions in New York and we’re both poor graduate students, so we decided on an itinerary that allowed us a free day in the city (aside from food, of course).
Read MoreThe full title of this magnificent cathedral is “Major Papal, Patriarchal and Roman Archbasilica Cathedral of the Most Holy Savior and Saints John the Baptist and the Evangelist in Lateran, Mother and Head of All Churches in Rome and in the World.” It is the oldest and highest ranking of the four major papal basilicas and houses the cathedra (or seat) of the Roman bishop. As the Cathedral of the Pope as Bishop of Rome, it actually ranks superior to all other churches of the Roman Catholic Church, including St. Peter's Basilica.
Read MoreAventine (or Aventino in Italian) Hill is one of the Seven Hills of Rome—and if you read my previous blog post about Palatine Hill, you’ll know this is the hill Remus chose on which to settle Rome, while Romulus chose Palatine.
Read MoreOur third day in Rome once again had a very, very early start: we needed to be across town to catch our tour bus to Pompeii at 7 a.m. This day trip, through Walks of Italy, was the second part of my Christmas present from my mom, and it was a highlight of the entire trip.
Read MoreOur second day in Rome, Ryan and I woke up early yet again to catch the metro over to Vatican City. The last Sunday of the month, the Vatican Museums are free, and being the thrifty people we are, we were willing to brave the crowds to avoid the 17 euros each for a ticket. However, we did not anticipate how crowded it would be. When we arrived an hour before the museum doors opened, the line stretched ridiculously long, disappearing around the corner of the Vatican wall. Nevertheless, we persisted, standing in line for over an hour, and I’d say it was worth it—the line moved relatively quickly, and once we were inside, the crowds weren’t unbearable.
Read MoreOur first day started bright and early at 8:30 a.m. for the Roma Antica Tour through Context Travel (this tour was a Christmas gift from my mom, and it was one of my favorite parts of the trip!). Our guide, Valeria, was an archaeologist who had studied at UC Berkeley and Oxford, and I learned more about Roman history than I could ever hope to retain. We began the tour by skipping the (incredibly long) line to the Colosseum, as Valeria explained that the holes in the walls we often saw in ancient Roman buildings were spots for metal clamps, as most of these ancient structures were overlaid with marble.
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