Hello From a Wild Heart

    Have you ever felt like you're running in a herd?  You're part of this great, powerful whole, surrounded by sleek, fit bodies pulsing with energy and movement as the herd streams forward and carries you on a high.  But suddenly, the flashing, beautiful whole starts to pull ahead.  The herd surges past you on either side, parting around you, and it dawns on you: you're not one of the sleek, powerful members.  You're the sick, gimpy one.  That's about how I felt after seeing Michelle's brilliant first post. =) My name is Susan, and I'm excessively competitive.

Me playing soccer: can't win ball with skill?  Kill other team with fists!  (Photo credit to Nguyen Photography)

    After I spent last summer away from home, I wasn't sure what a summer in my hometown in Wyoming would be like.  Living with my family after almost two years away is definitely an adjustment I've struggled to make.  When it gets down to it, though, I forgot how much I love Wyoming.  (Friends at my university are probably laughing at this because I talk about how great Wyoming is a lot.  GUESS WHAT, GUYS.  IT'S SUPER TRIPLE EXTRA GREAT.)

    I know now that I'd forgotten the details.  The daily bits of life, what it was like to have turkeys regularly invading the yard, pheasants taking off sounding like helicopters, and woodpeckers drumming holes in the trees.  I'd also forgotten what it meant to be truly alone, and to rejoice in it.

    Over the summer, life here has renewed a lot of who I am.  All those pieces of Susan, little bits of chickens, sunshine, old friends, manual labor, solitary time, and reading, had been lying in Wyoming where I left them, and it's felt so good to pick them up and fit them back into me.


    In a few short weeks, I'll have to leave my wild home.  It'll be good to be back at school, but I think my heart always stays with the land in Wyoming.  And of course, I'll miss my chickens dearly.  You'll probably get to hear how amazing chickens are later because I love them.  I'll also be writing about college, trying to find the future, people, and little bits of life.  Until then, I'll be out in paradise.