-Bart Simpson
It's been a long bloody time since I wrote a blog update. So long that unlike True American Hero Homer Simpson I won't even try to try to relate everything that's happened the past couple months.
My mind is a funny thing when it comes to writing. I'm convinced it secretly wants me never to write again, because it keeps seizing on the first excuse, be it ever so unconvincing, it can find for me not to do it. Take this blog, for example. For the past several months I kept on telling myself it wouldn't be interesting if I didn't have a lot of pictures with it. I kept on determining I would take the requisite pictures, then (1) not taking pictures and (2) recycling my justification for not writing. I had to fight the same battle this very night, yet here as I sit editing my post, lo and behold!, I've discovered a number of pictures that fit perfectly.
Which leaves me with a bit of a dilemma. If my mind is truly conspiring against me, how do I win? I mean, the very mechanism I would usually use to see through trickery and deceit is the thing that's tricking and deceiving me. But I think maybe I've figured it out now. The trick is probably just not to think in the first place. I'll get right on that.
At this exact moment I happen to be sitting at a table scattered with the countless little belongings that tend naturally to accumulate on free surfaces in a busy household. This charmingly cluttered little table is situated in an equally charming room. Oriental rugs, darkwood furnishings and paintings complement each other perfectly, making a comfortable, homey ambiance. But my favorite part of the decorations has to be the dozens -- maybe even hundreds -- of Christmas ornaments strung up around the French doors and fireplace in this endearing living room. Being rather fond of Christmas lights as year-round interior decorations myself, you can imagine my pleasure at living in a place that makes my little bedroom illuminations seem trivial by comparison.
Where am I, you ask? Why, only at the home of a gentleman named James F., who much to my delight responded incisively to my Craig's List advertisement for temporary lodging. My sublease ran out on the 20th, you see, which was rather inconvenient considering the lease on my next place begins September 1st. I was left with roughly two weeks without a place to sleep and few prospects apart from a couple dubious-looking park benches on Main St. Yet another crisis in lodging had presented itself, and once again it was Craig's List to the rescue.
And rescue it did. I truly couldn't have found a better place. James has been an absolutely splendid host, indescribably hospitable and excellent in conversation, to boot. He even provided me with encouragement to start blogging again. Quite a good deal for a hastily-found Craig's List host, though I have to admit I'm a bit apprehensive at all my good luck. This makes two straight too-good-to-be-true living situations garnered from Craig's List and I'm beginning to wonder if I've used up all my Craig's List luck. I hope not, because my future roommates, Sam and Allie, seem really cool, and old Craig helped me find them too...
I should probably give some sort of an update on my life as a whole since that was the intent of this blog in the first place. For the past few months I've been working at ABC -- Arbor Brewing Company. This is the entrance. Or at least a picture of it:
And this is what it looks like on the inside:
Melissa doesn't work there anymore, though. She moved to North Carolina and is decidedly missed.
ABC is a truly unique place. Endearingly known as "The Pub" by those who work there, it is a haven of beer afficionados (known to the rest of the world as "beer snobs), long-serving regulars (some might say alcoholics, or at least beeraholics) and a surprising number of long-term employees (termed in the service world as "lifers"). Also, it has amazing beer. Outstanding beer. Beer so wonderful it brings a tear to the eye. And the people are swell. Terrific. Inspired. I don't know how the people that run ABC managed to attract all the coolest people within 20 miles to work in one place, but they did. And I will miss every one of them more than I can say.
But all things come to an end, eventually, and as good a time as I've had at ABC I have, for a number of reasons that will become clearer farther along in this entry, decided to move back to Ohio for a year. For now, though, I shall reflect a bit on Ann Arbor, as life here has treated me as well as I could ask.
I really have had a fantastic time here. Most satisfying (much to no-one's surprise) have been the relationships I've formed. There has been Kevin J., my roommate for most of the summer, with whom I enjoyed a number of chess matches followed by afternoon conversations about life while we sat on our front porch and watched the world slowly grow older. I've also found a kindred spirit in Chris L., who shares my passion for sports in general as well as my laid-back approach to enjoying life. I will sorely miss afternoons hitting a tennis ball, kicking a soccer ball, or tossing the frisbee on the Law Quad. And of course I will miss my beloved S.S. and ABC crew. Visits will be forthcoming, guaranteed.
Two of the best "weekends" (meaning, in this case, consecutive days off work, not necessarily Friday night through Sunday evening) of the summer, however, involved none other than my two dear sisters.
The first of these was with Liza, my younger sister who, I am exceedingly pleased to report, successfully passed the state examination and is about to commence a career in massage therapy. I am absolutely beaming with pride, so much you'd think it was me who got his license. My dear younger sister came up to AA and we had an absolutely smashing time involving a trip to the Farmer's Market, the purchase of a growler of fine beer from ABC, the construction of some delectable guacamole and vegan burritos, and a viewing of the rather mediocre film Death to Smoochy, which was made considerably more tolerable by the consumption of said growler and the fine company.
Beer and Beer Vessels
Beloved sister and also-beloved brother-in-law
Beloved sister and also-beloved brother-in-law
Suffice it to say, I did not at all want to say goodbye. When you have such a wonderful little sister, one-day visits every once in a while are simply not enough.
Still, the weeks went by and eventually I was fortunate enough to be graced with a visit from my elder sister. We came up with the half-crazed idea of hiking 17.1 miles at Pinckney State Park, about 30 miles west of Ann Arbor. After fumbling about trying to get started for what seemed like hours, Carey and I found ourselves on a trail that wound off into the distance. We set off armed with nothing but our wits, 50-pound backpacks, some vegan-friendly fare and two indomitable wills. To say it was gorgeous would be to say Caravaggio was passable at painting.
Still, the weeks went by and eventually I was fortunate enough to be graced with a visit from my elder sister. We came up with the half-crazed idea of hiking 17.1 miles at Pinckney State Park, about 30 miles west of Ann Arbor. After fumbling about trying to get started for what seemed like hours, Carey and I found ourselves on a trail that wound off into the distance. We set off armed with nothing but our wits, 50-pound backpacks, some vegan-friendly fare and two indomitable wills. To say it was gorgeous would be to say Caravaggio was passable at painting.
View from a bridge on the path
View from our campground in the morning (that's a lake in the background)
Self-explanatory. But note the Man Beard.
These two visits from my sisters reminded me just how much I missed them. Out on the trail at Pinckney, Carey and I walked in silence for a couple hours at one point. There is something about being away from it all, isolated in nature without the normal distractions of urban life (which I love equally, in a different way) that makes you see things in another light. When you're surrounded by the sounds of running water, whispering wind and babbling animals, sometimes it makes you understand the longings of your heart a little more clearly. During those silent hours on the trail with Carey, it suddenly hit me that it had been two years -- two years! -- since I'd seen my sisters on anything resembling a regular basis. It dawned on me that because of my delayed law school plans I had an opportunity that might not present itself in the future: the opportunity to finally be close to them again.
There, in that place, following so quickly on the heels of my enchanting visit with Liza, it was crystal-clear that I needed to return home for a while. Perhaps, I thought, I can learn just as much from a return to the familiar-but-forgotten as I could from the adventurous-and-unknown. This thought was especially true, I think, since my life had been turned upside-down in the past half year. Though my natural instinct is always to keep going, I have to remember that everyone needs to rest, if only for a little while. I think now is that time for me.
There, in that place, following so quickly on the heels of my enchanting visit with Liza, it was crystal-clear that I needed to return home for a while. Perhaps, I thought, I can learn just as much from a return to the familiar-but-forgotten as I could from the adventurous-and-unknown. This thought was especially true, I think, since my life had been turned upside-down in the past half year. Though my natural instinct is always to keep going, I have to remember that everyone needs to rest, if only for a little while. I think now is that time for me.
Worth a million words, this one.
So, it's off to Columbus with me, with the intention of bothering my family until they get sick of me, paying off loans and saving up money for a ticket overseas. Just because I'm going home doesn't mean I'm not still a wandering soul.
The road goes ever on and on...
The road goes ever on and on...
