Eight Days in the Burg

Last year I spent the Fourth of July in northern Alberta. This year I spent it on the balcony of a rented parish house in Hamburg, Iowa located a few blocks from one of the worst floods in U.S. history. The Missouri River is currently 4 miles outside of its banks in southwestern Iowa, and has broken levees and wiped out farms and towns up and down the river since early May. Since AmeriCorps is first in line for disaster response, a call went out for volunteers a few weeks ago to go to Hamburg and help maintain the levee that had been built there. I signed up for the July 4th-12th stint and as I reflect back on my time there, I can only consider myself an incredibly lucky girl.

Real World Hamburg: Ten strangers who live together, work together, and watch
Harry Potter marathons together

By the time August is over, about 80 AmeriCorps members will have cycled through the town helping where we can – usually patrolling the levee looking for signs of erosion or seepage, mending tears, and monitoring the river levels. The way the system is set up, there will be two teams of five people always in the town, and their respective deployment dates overlap, so every few days a new team comes in to be trained by the outgoing team. Five times a day, a team of four people goes out to walk the levee – meaning everyone takes two shifts a day. This amounts to about 2-3 hours of actual work a day, though technically we’re on call 24/7 in case of emergency (read: in case the levee bursts). That means we all found ourselves with much more down time than we’ve been used to. Luckily, we were granted free access to the Hamburg City Pool, temporary library cards, cable, and free movie tickets. PLUS, all of our meals were provided: breakfasts came in the form of homemade goodies from community members, lunches were donated by the Grape Community Hospital, and the DNR paid for all of our dinners at the Blue Moon Bar and Grill. Can you say amazing???  My faith in humanity has never really been shaken, yet this experience certainly reinforced that faith.

Part of the 15 mile lake that doesn't belong here...

So I’ve long since realized how lucky I am with my situation right now: I have a place to live (and love living there), I have job that will never be beat in its awesomeness, great family, great friends, and love and support coming from all corners of the country. To that list I now add the following:

1) My town is not flooded. Nor is there a current threat of a flood. My heart goes out to all those who have been affected; it’s one thing to see it on the news or hear about it in an email, but a whole new experience to see a lake where there should be highways, homes, and farms. To talk with a farmer whose crops are now under nine feet of water and hear the emotion in his voice is something I’ll never forget.

2) I get to be part of an organization that makes it a priority to give help to those who need it. No ignoring, no waiting for someone else to do something, no making excuses. We all signed up with AmeriCorps for different reasons (because it’s a job, because we want to work in the natural sciences), but when the call came out everyone was willing to go.

3) I got to live and work with some pretty chill people while I was there. Only a few minor blips of drama, which is saying something when there’s a house of ten people, one bathroom, and a fair amount of sleep deprivation. Everyone I met there is cool by me, despite the constant attempts (and sometimes successes) to touch their barefeet to my barefeet – a slight phobia of mine and which makes me shudder and squirm with discomfort…and sometimes shriek and curl into the fetal position.

Local levee wildlife

After only a few whirlwind days in the Driftless (which included my first venture into Schera’s and some ridiculously amazing beers whose names I can’t even pronounce followed by a Big Blue Sky concert in the beautifully restored Elkader Opera House sponsored by these guys as part of Project Aware), I’ll be back on the road tomorrow to head back to Columbia for the wedding of two good friends. I’ll hang in CoMO until Monday morning, when I’ll take myself out for a birthday breakfast and then head back to the Kansas motherland for a visit home.

How I Got My (Driftless) Groove Back

You know those rare moments when you get so overwhelmed with happiness that you’re grinning by yourself in the car and it’s almost hard to breathe? I have whole days like that. Days where I’m boggled at how easy my heart beats, how much I laugh during the day, and how much I just want to hug everyone I work with/live with/see on the street.

Just try to be sad or angry while sitting on this bench by a grove of white oaks.

I don’t want any of this to sound like grad school was some doom-and-gloom death trap where no joy was permitted. I loved grad school. Well…most of it. 99.9% of it I loved. I had an amazing advisor, even more amazing and hilarious friends. I loved Columbia and find myself almost homesick for it already. I miss being a part of life there. But it’s taken me a long time to finally admit this to myself, and I’ve made my peace with it, so I’m ready to say it to the vast, faceless-yet-full-of-faces grapevine that is the internet: I do not want to spend my life in academia.

Pretty

I’m proud of what I accomplished in grad school. I’m still in love with my thesis, and I still really want to go back to Alberta as soon as possible. But conservation of our beautiful planet and responsible living are some of the few ideals I still cling to, and I never felt like I was making a difference while sitting in a classroom or at my desk for 14 hours a day. Out in the real world, I can talk to people, I can be goofy and enthusiastic without fear of being labeled “intellectually inferior.” When I make people try to call the barred owls with me, I feel like maybe I helped them like the outdoors a little bit more than they did before, and maybe more willing to recycle, or drive less, or even just seek out new places. Sure this is what my job was before grad school, but I wasn't as passionate about it then as I think I am now.  Now, I just have a bit more knowledge to back up my claims that bats are good and garlic mustard is bad. Now, I have a much better explanatory framework to transmit knowledge to both kin and nonkin!

It’s hard to have a bad day up here. Long days, yes. Tiring days, you bet. But there’s not a part of my day that I don’t like. Morning stroll to the river, the pretty drive to “work,” the people I work with and work for, coming home to a swarm of kids and dogs…

But I digress. This post is finally getting to the point of all this incessant typing: Re-learning what it is to live. Recently, I’ve gone a streak of adventures, some of which were captured on my camera.

All I wanted from last Saturday was nutritional yeast. Because I want to make this and this. So I had to go up to Gays Mills, where Google told me there was a natural foods store.. Adventure Buddy was also going to be in town and with very little arm-twisting he signed up to drive there. On the way, we saw a sign for Pick-Your-Own strawberries and before I could even say “Look! Pick your own berries!” he had already pulled into the gravel parking lot and was halfway up to the door. Sixty seconds later we were picking strawberries. I. Was. Giddy. And all that giddiness turned into pure picking energy, and I hauled out 4.5 pounds of strawberries :-) Half are still frozen, the other half made a quite delicious strawberry preserve-ish topping for toast this past week…

Me and my haul

After strawberry-picking it was off to Kickapoo Exchange, my new favorite store! Sure it doesn’t have the wide selection I had grown accustomed to in CoMO, but it had everything I was looking for in bulk bins! I also picked up a box of gluten-free brownie mix for Wonderful Cousin (update, she added in some chocolate chips AND chocolate frosting! Pretty darn tasty).

As we left town, we happened to see a sign pointing in the direction of Solar Village. Since we had never heard of such a thing, or even know what it could even be, we did what any other rational person would do. We typed it in to the GPS and went searching for it. A few detours later, we found it! I was so excited to have stumbled upon this little corner of green energy paradise!

If you look closely, you can see Little Adventure Buddy and me standing in the
middle of Solar Village in Soldiers Grove, WI

After Solar Village we decided to see what else was to be found. And what did we find? We found Crazy Frank’s, who sells things “for peanuts.” It was almost like a fancy, permanent flea market. Aisles and aisles of strange, outdated, or preposterous items. Ronald Reagan army knife, anyone? Or how about a the New Testament on cassette tape? Barbeque sauce packets?  Strange.

We made it back into town and went to a new Mexican restaurant. After dinner, I was informed there was one more surprise for the day. And what a surprise! Something I can cross off my bucket list!! Go-karts. Sadly, no pictures of the look of pure joy on my face as I tried (and failed) to beat Adventure Buddy/Reckless Driver.

Sunday was mainly spent on the river. Do I even have to say anything about this?

Wonderful Cousin and Redhead on the river

This past week and weekend has been a blur of park adventures (more gator-cruising and berry-picking…and almost hitting a black rat snake that was chilling on one of the trails), getting back into vegan cooking, and toss in a campfire in the country with s’mores, firefly-chasing, and fireworks. Today Adventure Buddy and I hiked up to the Marching Bear mound group in the South Unit of Effigy Mounds and had a little picnic in between the two thunderbird mounds. The topic of conversation? Losing and regaining faith. Very appropriate, I thought.

This week, I’m off to help monitor some flooding rivers and their levees on the other side of Iowa. Adventure report will follow.

*I have to do a plug for Hawk Boss, who inspired the title of this blog (though I suppose it can also be considered a shout-out to Stella and her groove). Hawk Boss's, Big Blue Sky is responsible for some amazing tunes that usually become the soundtracks to my summers up in the Driftless.

Backtracking, aka Copy and Paste Part I

I originally started jotting down thoughts as my summer officially began back in May, but it's just taken me awhile to get around to this stage of the "start a blog" plan.  After graduation I spent some time in the Kansas countryside house-sitting for my relatives.  To go from end-of-the-semester madness to a tranquil location with no cell phone reception and shaky internet connection was...jarring.  Kind of like riding down a steep hill on your bike, when you're flying along just barely under control and then you hit a rock.  After a tumble through the air, you land on your backside and then you're forced to look up and realize how pretty the sky is that day.  Or something like that.

I've done the ol' copy and paste of a summary of my first week out of graduate school:

Day One: Actually did sunrise salutations with the sunrise! I tramped (well, more like skipped) out to the edge of the open meadow that is my uncle's backyard and lay down my mat. I only know a little yoga, and my bare feet quickly got cold, but there was a moment standing there with my arms outstretched feeling the warmth of the sun beat away the chill of the morning and settle on my face; I felt my heart finally quiet and before I knew it I was smiling with my eyes closed, face first into sunshine. Sadly, it's been awhile since a moment of peace like that has found my way into its life, so long in fact that I didn't know how to react and suddenly felt selfish for trying to make such a moment last. So I did what I also do when I feel on the verge of overwhelming happiness - I opened my eyes and found something else to do. Besides, I can hear the rooster crowing from the coop letting me know the chickens are up and ready to come outside, too. Maybe tomorrow I'll be able to let myself linger a little while longer in the sunrise.

Reenactment of joyous moment in a Kansas sunrise

Day Two: Something about the wide open space just makes you want to run. The dogs love to go tearing through the yard at breakneck speed, and I find myself running everywhere, too. I run to go let the dogs out, I run to the chicken coop, I ran to the middle of the meadow just because I could. I can't decide if I feel that urge to run because of the exhilaration of running for the sake of running, or because I'm still used to being in a perpetual time crunch, where there were never enough hours in the day and I'm running because I still feel the need to get as much done today as possible.

I was thinking on this as I ate my breakfast of a fried egg sandwich (from eggs collected last night) and coffee on the deck, watching an Eastern wood pee-wee eye me suspiciously. I love lingering over breakfast, but there always comes a time when I have to sigh, and say to myself, 'Okay Em, you have things that need doing, let's go,' and then I launch myself into classes, reading, studying, errands, and the all around business of keeping my life together. As I leaned on the railing of the deck, mug in hand with the last swallow of coffee, the familiar sigh and thoughts of *getting a move on* came into my head and I turned to get my plate to head inside to do...what? TO DO WHAT?

I have nothing that needs doing.

Panic set in, the same panic I felt after my Sublime Sunrise moment of peace and happiness. Keep breathing, chores will come to you. Okay, I have laundry to do, I want to walk around the property...and I'll need groceries, and I told my parents I'd go over to Hutch this afternoon. Whew, okay. Calm returns.

Am I now incapable of having a day of doing nothing? Have I lost the ability to sit and stare out across a meadow with no other thought besides "Gosh that's pretty," in my head? I don't think so. I think I'm just rusty at it, so I'll apply myself to relearning this skill with the same dedication that I applied to my classes. My goal for this week: Spend one entire day doing nothing.

Day Three: Goal of doing nothing not going well.  BUT, the somethings that I am doing are just happiness-inducing.  I met up with my mom for lunch in Newton at the Prairie Harvest.  It has to be one of my favorite places to eat and shop for edible goodies!  Check out my haul:

Yummies in my tummy

Turns out the rest of the week I spent out there was a blissful blur of fresh eggs, good books, a sunburn, daily battles with a rooster (and the lingering beak-shaped scar on my foot to prove it) and several naps. I spent another week in Kansas after my house-sitting gig was up...then it was off to the Driftless.

The view from Hanging Rock at Effigy Mounds National Monument, which is
one of my favorite haunts...

Next installment: Life in the Driftless...an abbreviated version.

So it begins...

How to begin?

I’ve always been a big fan of bullet points, and since most of what follows will be meandering, abstract, and/or nonsensical thoughts, perhaps it’s best to get a few concrete facts down:

*I have a hard time remaining in one location. Even during the times when I have a mailing address of my very own, I tend to bounce around (my personal record: from February 2010 to March 2011, I never stayed anywhere for a continuous 3 weeks before taking a trip somewhere).

*My current location is in what is referred to as the Driftless Area, a place along the upper Mississippi in southwest Wisconsin and northeastern Iowa, and is a place I seem to migrate to every summer. After graduating from college I lived and worked here for a year before going to graduate school. Now that I’ve graduated with my MA, I’ve returned for the summer as usual. The more things change, the more they stay the same.

*I live in my cousin’s basement and love every minute of being a part of her chaotic household. Between five energetic kids, five dogs, and three puppies, there is never a dull moment. Considering the fact that a part of me still dreams of one day having a household as full as hers, I take constant mental notes of how she keeps everything together.

*I love my job. My official title is “Natural Resources Interpreter,” and if they made this position a permanent deal, I would happily stay in my cousin’s basement forever. An average day includes at least one hike through beautiful bluff country that’s packed with warblers, woodpeckers, oak and hickory trees, spring-fed streams, and all the cool fresh air a girl could ask for; my day also involves a lot of coffee drinking and talking about anything from the types of trees in the park to the best restaurant in the nearby towns to what the big lumps of dirt are on the ridgetops (answer: Native American burial and ceremonial mounds, if you have two hours to spare I can tell you more than you ever wanted to know). On weekends I lead hikes and bird walks and sometimes a kids’ activity all meant to convince people that nature is awesome and we should be more aware of how we're connected to the other lifeforms on this beautiful planet. All this set a stone’s throw from the Mississippi (no exaggeration, the drive to work includes a stretch of road where I could reach out one side of the car and touch the bottom of a 400 foot bluff and have a drop off into the river on the other side). Fantastic.

So why do this blog? Because I’ve reached a point in my life where it’s hard to keep everyone updated, and mass emails means I forget people. That’s the practical reason. The other reason is that I’ve also reached a point in my life where I’ve developed a fear of forgetting. I have a really awesome life, and I’ve met some really awesome people, and I’ve had some pretty awesome experiences…and if I know nothing else for sure, at least I know this: I don’t want to forget any of it.

So here goes.