001 - Is this really happening?
Honestly, I mean I’ve lived within the same 30-mile-wide section of Ohio for the last 22 years... and now I’m moving to Arizona? It has been over a month and I’m still taken aback by walking down my driveway because, well, MOUNTAINS. Or looking out of the front window because MOUNTAINS. PLURAL. Humphreys and Agassiz and Fremont, oh my! After lengthy discussions about deserts and sand and pokey things, these pine-covered mountains are a dream within a dream.
But enough about lush topography. I’m Keni, I’ve started a new conservation adventure in the Southwest, and I just need to start writing. As a certifiable BA in English and Communication Arts, I am also certifiably burnt out on writing. Thinking back to my two semesters of senior research gives me whiplash from the sheer anxiety about why I neeeeeeeed to write. I have to have consistency in writing to improve my skills... and also relearn how to love the words, trust the words, not overedit the words. Sweet reclamation!
More than anything, I’m eager to lovingly devote time to my creative skills, rather than feel as if my creative skills’ worth is determined by a grade or social acceptance. School is out forever, if I so choose (!!!!). By all means, if you don’t want to read this blog, dear reader, you are free to stop at any point and I personally do not give one single h*ck. That’s the beauty of freedom! woohoo!!!
SoooooOoo to give some insight on my current status, through my internship/job (in this situation, they are interchangable) I spend eight days at my specific work site. The amount of time spent at a project is referred to as a “hitch” (see also: “going out on hitch”). We’re out doing trail work + maintenence, installing fencing, restoring habitats and battling back non-native species, or a myriad of other tasks specific to the needs of the site. Thus far, I’ve decided that I really love restoration work, mainly because of the core concept of promoting biodiversity within habitats. Monoculture sucks for the ecology around it, whether that’s corn or kochia, and jacks up the soil and makes it super hard for the animal, vegetal, and mineral life to flourish. Worst offenders in my heart: thistle and tamarisk. Ugghhhhhgghgggghhhh. Stop ruining it for everything ELSE trying to grow, ok??
Restoration rant over. At this current moment, I’ve got a few different projects that I’m working on/with others and they’re pretty rad; starting a comprehensive composting system in housing, the beginnings of an ACE literary journal with contributions from corps members, design and branding work to help achieve one of my closest friend’s dreams, and of course, this blog, to name a few. The balance that I’ve been seeking from life for what seems like eons is finally starting to settle in. There’s so many new opportunities to be grateful for, despite any wonky kerfuffles that occur along the way.
My goal for structuring this blog will be individual vignettes based on my experiences at each site I’ve served. Expect cool history, fun wildlife facts, and a lot of attempts to start the dialogue on why conservation is important. And y’know, start them NOW, so we don’t have to wait any longer to stir movement towards at LEAST saving our local ecologies. But did you know that pronghorn and Welsh corgis have the same butts? #fact
There will be some extra posts hither and yon. I’m definitely doing an ecocritical analysis of Princess Mononoke soon, maybe some creative writing (strong, strong maybe), maybe some sketches and quotes and things of that nature. But for now, I’m leaving off with a defining quote for this fresh phase of my existence that I heard on the second Simone dé Beauvoir episode of Philosophize This!, my favorite podcast:
“I slept and dreamt that life was joy. I awoke and saw that life was service. I acted and behold! Service was joy.” — Rabindranath Tagore
