The great backyard

I awoke in the middle of the night to an intense storm passing through, one with almost constant lightning (would this be considered an electric storm?) and unusually strong winds. Either the wind or the extremely loud rain battering my bedroom skylight woke me up, but something about the noise and the intensely swaying trees outside my window clued me in that it was a little stronger than what typically rolls through. Turned out my feeling was right; there are trees down all over this morning, and a large percentage of the area was without power for a while, and still may be.

First, the damage:



Luckily for us, the biggest tree that went down was in the woods, affecting only other trees. As for the rest of our little street, large branches came down, but no one seems to have had any serious damage.



I used this turn of events to get outside again, into one of my favorite places on earth: my parents' back yard. After a rain is my favorite time to enjoy it because everything is outrageously lush and green, and it's the sort of back yard where some effort is put into keeping plants at bay, and managing certain areas of particular plants. But it also has a tendency to get wild, and that might be what I love about it the most. So in photographing the downed trees this morning, I decided to make a point to capture just a couple of the things about the natural life here that I love so much.

(Can you tell I'm starting to think about not being here for much longer?) ;)



Someone (ahem, dad) let Porter out of the house again. We had a small standoff, but I eventually caught him and put him back inside.



One of my favorites:




Perhaps because they are easy to take care of, or more likely that they're just awesome, succulents are everywhere here. It's always been this way, but as the years go by, they spread and multiply, and varieties are added to create a sort of mosaic of succulent carpet in some areas, dotted with little potted varieties that are pulled into the house in the winter.




Little ant just escaped my lens. I like to imagine what it must be like to see everything from his perspective. The stone wall would be more like a cave, and Mr. Spider in there somewhere would probably be the equivalent of a grizzly bear. The more I thought about it, the more I like the idea of the stone walls outside being a series of little caverns.




No four-leaf clovers today. :(



And Duncan, of course, joined me for a few moments before wanting to be let back inside the house.





Days to Edinburgh move-in: 31

One month to go!

A kind of random post today, but this is it, folks. The final stretch, or something along those lines. Today marks one month from departure. !!! I can hardly wait to start posting about all things Edinburgh and travel related! Therein lies the whole reason for this blog, and since I've had it for a couple of months now, I've got a handle on how best to bring the best posts to you. Family, friends, and blogosphere: I love you.

Just sayin'. :)

After what feels like eons waiting for all of this to come together, I'm finally faced with the concept of imminence, and trying to pack as much activity/work/travel into these last few weeks as humanly possible. As well as actually... packing. Which hasn't happened yet, not really even a little.

Today I have the day off and I've been taking it easy. One of the best things I know to do on a day off is go thrift shopping. I managed to find a sweet vintage leather convertible clutch bag in the most brilliant shade of blue. I try to only buy the things that a) are amazing, just amazing and b) are one-time-deal sorts of finds. I know I've been trying to clean out my closet, but some things I'm just certain I can make room for. And for $3.49, you just can't go wrong! Goes with my leopard print skirt I thrifted a while back. ;)



I also celebrated/prepared for Edinburgh arrival today by purchasing an iPhone off eBay that I'll be able to use on any number of networks in the UK once I get a SIM card over there. My current phone is about shot, so no matter what, it was about time to upgrade. Aaaallll the little things that go into a move overseas. Not that I'm complaining about a excuse to get a new phone. Not at all!



Otherwise, my very sleepy (read: naughty) cat and I are just hanging out today. He's an indoor feline, but yesterday he snuck out of the house and was outside for a loooong time. Luckily he hung around the house the whole time, but when I finally saw him, he couldn't stop scratching and biting at himself. I worried he had gotten into some fleas or something. Turns out he must have wallowed in some burrs, because they were stuck everywhere in his fur. Serves him right.




But now we're relaxed. I'm going to miss this dude. Lucky for me (and him, probably) my amazing parents are kind of adopting him. So I'll get to visit him at Christmas. ;)


Days to Edinburgh move-in: 32

The local ice cream joint

Arguably one of the best things about summer: ice cream! I've been indulging more this summer than usual, and while the choices are many, the closest and most enjoyable has always been (and may always be) our local soft-serve spot! Dick's Drive-In has been an institution in our little city for decades. Built in 1954, it's been going strong, open in the summers and serving burgers, onion rings, malts, and that sort of all-American classic drive-in fare since then.

It just wouldn't be summer without it. And I've been taking full advantage especially since I won't see it for a while! ;)

Although nine times out of ten we go for ice cream, their burgers are quite good in that drive-in sort of way. The onion rings are the standard in my opinion. Paired with a chocolate malt... okay. I'm trying really hard not to get up and drive there right now.

It was opened by Dick and Donna Sternhagen in 1954. It's owned by someone else now, but they ran the place for over 40 years. It's still very much the same; the posters for ice cream sandwiches and twinkle cones are the same, faded, outmoded advertisements that were on the walls when I was a little kid, and they'll probably be there forever. It's still open from March 1 through November, when the lot is typically taken over by the Kiwanis for their annual Christmas tree lot.

The two black and white photos are via the Wisconsin Historical Society. Since those photos were taken, the drive-in has removed the absolutely amazing 50s/60s geometric lamps you can see in the window. I would have killed to have one of those in my kitchen...

My order of choice is a dish of chocolate ice cream with extra sprinkles. Just can't get enough of those sprinkles. ;) It's a sickness, it must be!




Days to Edinburgh move-in: 34

Dreams of other summers

Beware: I'm in a nostalgic mood. Which is apparently not actually a bad thing!

The closer I get to departure date, and while summer starts looking dry and August-like with back-to-school sales cropping up in stores already, I can't help but wax nostalgic about summers past. And about those beautiful, memorable, irreplaceable people who populated them. Sometimes there were long, crazy, late-night summers. Some were more family-oriented. This particular summer feels loaded with work and "grown-up" responsibilities, or those around me are strapped by grown-up responsibilities, and it makes getting away difficult. I think "lament" is a strong word, but I do find myself longing for whiskey-soaked nights on the porch with a Smith Corona, channeling our inner Hemingway and Kerouac (unpretentiously as we could manage), or sitting around a backyard fire, or stopping by the bar across from work after a long evening shift. The last few summers were lovingly carefree and terrifically complex at the same time, with the sort of friendships forged and lessons learned that I wouldn't trade for the world.



I miss those times, but I'm not forgetting all the wonderful people and things I do now, and the opportunities for friendship and socializing and more genuinely wonderful experiences to be had in the future. I find that I'm starting to be able to wrap up a chapter that involves a certain group of people, and harvest my small, yet priceless and carefully cultivated bouquet of memories to hold onto forever. For the first time, over the last few days, I've started to feel a teensy bit homesick for friends I haven't left yet. I've felt this before, when I've moved far from home, but it never fails to amaze me how strong these emotions can be. It's truly the most difficult thing about going so far, knowing no one where I'll be, and that all of my friends and family are here.

This isn't really a sad post -- I hope it doesn't come off that way. I've simply been ruminating on a number of relationships, how valuable they are to me and how they have changed me and made me the person I am. And how I want to try my very best to hold onto them in spite of the distance I'll be putting between us. There's a large handful of folks I'll be very, very sorry to not see as often as I do now.



And my cat counts as a friend, just for the record. ;)

Days to Edinburgh move-in: 35

Pare down and pare some more

The sun is out, the doors are open, there's fresh fruit in the kitchen and... I'm cleaning! I could say the last few months have been an extended exercise in the art of paring down.



Getting rid of things can be a tricky business. Anyone who has packed up to move, whether short or long term, knows what it's like to go through the wardrobe or the bookcases and try to figure out what's necessary to keep, and what can be gotten rid of. When it comes to space limits and the practicality of say, shipping boxes overseas (ahem, cha-ching), the reality of how much I can keep becomes apparent. I've got this to deal with:



And this:



And some more that's hidden in various places around the apartment. An eclectic collection...



There's a bit of (my own and others') artwork, too. One large one I started a few years ago and never quite finished, below. I thought I was being clever with the idea that "nothing is black and white." Commence snicker and eye roll.



My parents are loving and generous and are allowing me to keep a few boxes of things in an out-of-the-way closet in their house while I figure out where the non-essentials like my art books and vinyl records should go. It's the stuff I can't bear to get rid of because it's either very valuable, or special in some way, or sentimental. I also find that I'm entering that grey area of "student life" where I'll have a room in a flat for the next year, but after that year is up, I'll invariably be moving again -- and I haven't the foggiest idea where. It's wonderful that I don't have to give up everything I can't take with me.

Today, on my very first proper day off in weeks, I decided to go through my belongings one last time. I've become a bit of a bibliophile in the last four+ years, having worked as a bookseller at a used bookstore where the treasures were really treasures. I tend to lean in the artsy book collecting direction, which of course tends the bookcase toward a mass of oversized, beautiful, sometimes rare and altogether totally impractical books. Well, maybe not totally impractical. ;) I am bound to be an art historian after all, right? ;)



I've been through these shelves and crates before, culling as I went, but I'm down to the tough decisions, and I think I've finally made them. I'm keeping plenty of really wonderful items, but as for the other things that I may have been holding onto simply because I was accustomed to holding onto them, they're going to the used bookstore to find new homes. Some, like my beloved and ancient Salinger will not last much longer no matter what happens to it, since it's basically in pieces as it is.

  

My cat Porter was kind enough to keep a watchful eye from his overseer's spot on top of the microwave, and I'm happy to be able to spend this beautiful Friday getting some things done (and getting outside a little bit too).






He can be kind of a serious guy. But he may have been frustrated that I hadn't fed him any Fancy Feast yet today. It can make him kind of testy.

Hope everyone has a marvelous weekend!


Days to Edinburgh move-in: 36

August at last

Despite any feelings to the contrary, August did in fact arrive eventually. Like, today! It's here! It's August. And the calendar may say that summer started toward the end of June, but we all know that summer consists of three months: June, July and August, and after August, it's fall. Basically. Of course, this is coming from a midwest girl where spring and fall are marked by passing blossoms and colored leaves, respectively, winter is most decidedly winter, and school is out from June to September, so that's summer. The end.

Anyway. I've been enjoying it as much as I can, and have been busy-busy-BUSY up until now. It's not quite through yet, but let me just throw out there that tomorrow will be the first day off I've had in weeks where I won't just be skipping over to a second job because I'm available from the first one. On that very exciting note, I intend to clean, clean, clean tomorrow. More out of necessity than it being something I really want to do on my day off, but I realize a girl can't work 50 or 60 hours/week and do grocery shopping and scrub the bath tub and do the laundry and the dishes and pack up her life, etc, etc. It just never ends.

There's laundry in the washer right now, for the record. I'm getting an early start.

I've also been wanting to get back to eating a bit healthier, but the last few days have been a bit of a hurrah where food is concerned. :) All in the name of good times and sunshine and pleasant company, though, right? Sampled some Scottish ale at a local (Wisconsin style) British pub.

And one can never go wrong with ice cream.

August is shaping up to be a brilliant few weeks. Appleton's first Mile of Music Festival kicks off the weekend after next, and I'm excited to catch some of Saturday's lineup. That will be followed by what promises to be a lovely fare-thee-well party from the bookstore, and probably another shindig as a farewell from the museum sometime. I've planned a day trip to Door County, another day (possibly longer?) trip down to Chicago shortly thereafter. We've got a rummage sale to get underway, and I've got some serious packing to do, not to mention family and friend farewells and plenty of other excuses to socialize and enjoy the rest of this lovely summer.

Time flies when you're having fun! ;) So they say.


Days to Edinburgh move-in: 37