On this first day of 2015, I marvel at everything we fit into those precious, fleeting days of 2014. The world around us has been tumultuous, to say the least. I often feel a sense of unraveling while trying to absorb the newest video or op-ed or headline. Fortunately, we filled our lives with people and places that braided each day into something meaningful and tangible. On nearly each day of 2014, the scale tipped heavily towards joy.
Brian and I made our postage stamp-sized apartment into a home. We embraced senioritis and spent the winter skiing/snowboarding at every opportunity. We finished (and presented) our senior capstone theses. We donned those caps and gowns, we toasted to the next chapter; we packed up our cars and we cried.
The summers... What spectacular summers. I ventured to the outskirts of North Cascades National Park where I would make a temporary home with fellow rangers. I wore the flat hat and was given a stage to tell visitors about climate change, bears, edible berries, glaciers, and wolverines. Brian drove to Colorado and built trails with the Forest Service until receiving a call from his previous advisor who offered the dream job: establishing a forest dynamics research plot in Cedar Breaks, Utah. We came together to hike in the North Cascades, help celebrate Dan and Mel's marriage in Portland, and see the desert together in Zion and Las Vegas. We thrived apart that summer. But I still counted the days until my adventures included him again.
Our lives were certainly defined by the seasons. When fall came, we moved to Bellingham to work and plan the trip of a lifetime. How fortunate that as 2014 draws to a close, we resolve to continue pushing to new corners of this country and ourselves. I recently watched an interview with William Cronon in which he describes the wonder of the national parks as a combination of the "immensity and intimacy of time." That rang incredibly true for me, as there's something indescribable about the timeless value of the natural world. I can only hope that 2015 continues to show us time incredibly well spent in the outdoors: immense, intimate, joyful.
Brian and I made our postage stamp-sized apartment into a home. We embraced senioritis and spent the winter skiing/snowboarding at every opportunity. We finished (and presented) our senior capstone theses. We donned those caps and gowns, we toasted to the next chapter; we packed up our cars and we cried.
The summers... What spectacular summers. I ventured to the outskirts of North Cascades National Park where I would make a temporary home with fellow rangers. I wore the flat hat and was given a stage to tell visitors about climate change, bears, edible berries, glaciers, and wolverines. Brian drove to Colorado and built trails with the Forest Service until receiving a call from his previous advisor who offered the dream job: establishing a forest dynamics research plot in Cedar Breaks, Utah. We came together to hike in the North Cascades, help celebrate Dan and Mel's marriage in Portland, and see the desert together in Zion and Las Vegas. We thrived apart that summer. But I still counted the days until my adventures included him again.
Our lives were certainly defined by the seasons. When fall came, we moved to Bellingham to work and plan the trip of a lifetime. How fortunate that as 2014 draws to a close, we resolve to continue pushing to new corners of this country and ourselves. I recently watched an interview with William Cronon in which he describes the wonder of the national parks as a combination of the "immensity and intimacy of time." That rang incredibly true for me, as there's something indescribable about the timeless value of the natural world. I can only hope that 2015 continues to show us time incredibly well spent in the outdoors: immense, intimate, joyful.