Gotta love housemate notes. There never seems to be enough spoons due to my peanut butter addiction.
And I do tend to forget about things like my clothes hanging on the line.
Today was a crazy weather day. It has been constantly windy since last night (23mph from the north w/ 37mph wind gusts). And cold. One minute it would be sunny, then the next it would be snowing, or raining, or both, or it would be sunny, rainy, & snowy all at once. Winter is still battling Spring, it would seem. After work I decided to take my photo of the day over by the rec park beach. I wasn’t too impressed. The weather sucked and I was bored with my photos. Then it started snowing and stopped. I was cold and wanted to get back into my car but all of a sudden I was hit with a nasty wind and downdraft sleet so hard that it hurt. But I didn’t go back to my car because of the awesome cloud formations and colors traveling over the lake. Even though I was shivering and my fingers hurt from the cold, and my face was raw from the wind, I ended up staying out there for over an hour until the sunset was over. That’s when you know that you’re in awe; when you’re in pain but you just can’t pry yourself away from the beauty.
Exactly one year ago today I packed up, left my hometown, and moved to Grand Marais. I had no idea what I was doing but it ended up being the best decision I’ve ever made. If I have any regrets it would be that I didn’t make a move sooner. I feel like I wasted too much of my life doing nothing and being terribly unhappy. You shouldn’t just sit around watching your life slip away, thinking that the universe will just throw something your way. That things will just happen for you. Only you can do that for yourself. You have to be the one to make a change and set things in motion. Then things will start to happen for you. Please, if you’re not happy with where or who you are, change. Move. Do something. See new places, have new experiences, meet new and interesting people. Live. Be crazy, be wild. Do something that scares the everliving shit out of you. Do whatever makes you happy. Now. Don’t wait, don’t make excuses for yourself, don’t waste time. The time you have in this world is finite. You owe yourself the chance to be happy.
Yesterday I turned 27. I drove out to Paradise Beach at sunset, stripped down to my birthday suit, sprinted down the beach in the cool evening air, and dove into the icy waters of Lake Superior. I emerged gasping and shocked, immediately frozen to the core. I scrambled out of the water and onto the rocky beach in what seemed like slow motion. I suddenly wasn’t cold anymore. I felt tingly. Euphoric. Alive. I sat there on the beach, wrapped warmly in a blanket. My right hand rummaging through the cold, damp pebbles until my fingers happened upon an agate. My gaze combed up and down the beach and finally rested on the water. The soft, pastel colors of the sky transformed and reflected off of the surface of the glassy lake and slowly faded into dark, hazy blue.
The past year has most definitely been a momentous one. So much positive change. I think that 27 is going to be a good age for me. I’m optimistic that it will be an age of great adventures and evolvement.
The sunsets over Lake Superior are amazing.
My little trek up the Onion River.
Today was quite misty and dreary but I decided that it would be a good idea to show Eric the Fall River anyways. Getting outside is always a good thing. This river is absolutely gorgeous. Plus, the air smelled of springtime. It smelled like rain, and mud, and wet trees. It smelled clean.
I took a new way home and this is what I found just off the road. I got out of my car and carefully climbed/slid my way down the ditch as far as I could to get alongside/on top of a waterfall. You can’t tell by the photos but it was so steep and slippery here! I really want to get further down but might have to hike up from down river to get back here & get a good shot of the falls.
Springtime in Cascade River State Park.
Cascade River State Park today.
A quick after-work trek down the Fall River this evening.
