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Its Been A Long Time

I haven't written in a while. I regret this. There have been so many events and happenings in the last 2 months and its a shame that I haven't documented my feelings about them. This summer has been a learning process for me. I guess anything thats worth it is a learning process but this summer especially. I spent 3 weeks at home after being in Paris for a semester and I realized that was far too short a time at home. Leaving was hard. But getting back into the groove of New York City after being in Paris and then in Nebraska was even harder. The pace was faster then I remembered and my mind was slow. New York felt different after living in Paris. Living abroad changes perceptions but I didn't realize how much until I was back in what I thought was my favorite city. Eventually, I fell into place but it took much longer than expected. Just as I felt like New York and I were fitting together again, I uprooted to move to DC for an internship in the Senate. Now here I am being the public service wonk, commuting everyday and working the 9-5 in a government building doing menial tasks that are boring but necessary. Of course that work is interrupted by visits and lectures by the most important people in our government. But all of these changes and this constant moving has taken its toll on me. I am ready for stability more than I ever have been. A home, I place where I feel like I can let everything go. I just wish I knew where to find it.

Things that have changed:

ME

Things that haven't changed:

* The reek of Jack Daniels in Dad's pickup truck

* The flat, boring 12-minute drive between my house and my old high school

* The sound of the water as the wind blows it up against the banks at Smith Creek

* The long straight rows that line the fields as the corn pops up from the ground

*The bright yellows, purples, and blues of the wildflowers growing in the ditches of the gravel roads

*The smell of hot dogs, popcorn, dirt, and sweat at small town summer softball games

*The dirty sunweathered faces of the farmers that winkle when they smile at you

*The taste of an ice cold Busch Light enjoyed on the porch while watching the sunset after a long hot day

Of Course There's A Beaver Crossing, Nebraska!

Being abroad for 4 months, I didn't realize how much I missed my hometown. But oh how the memories of the first 18 years of my life came flooding back as I drove through town for the first time since January. When I left there was snow on the ground, now the grass is green and summer is edging its way in. The smell of the grass and the wild flowers and the dirt being churned by tractors, the smell of diesel engines and river water remind me of what it was like to be a kid when Beaver Crossing was my world and I knew nothing of what lay beyond. No New York City. No Washington DC. No Paris. Driving thirty minutes to Lincoln was a big day and visiting family an hour and a half west was a vacation. It feels good to remember the innocent child I used to be when I played on the streets of this town. Oh Beaver Crossing, how I missed you!

A creative new way of looking at radio

I really love what they do with this:

www.loveandradio.org

Choose

by Carl Sandburg

The single clenched fist lifted and ready,

Or the open asking hand held out and waiting.

Choose:

For we meet by one or the other.

Which one will you pick today?