Departure

Today is September third. Tomorrow afternoon I will be embarking to Milan for a year long journey. In some ways, it hasn't hit me yet.

 I would tell you all the fact-y things that everyone's been asking me about for months, but I'm worn out with pretending to answer a question for the first time. I feel bad, because I know that these people love me and care about me and that is why they're asking. But all these identical questions and conversations are beginning to make once dynamic and unique relationships all feel identical, too.

 At the market today, I saw a couple of friends that I hadn't seen since the beginning of summer. I love these people, and our relationships were so authentic and genuine and still are in memory. But today I found myself feeling distant, hesitant to fall back into a relationship. I feel very much like I'm turning inward, feeling uncomfortable in social situations in which I used to thrive. I'm wanting time alone, to myself, to reflect.

 Time for reflection has been lacking this summer, as evidenced by this blog. My journal, too, lay stagnant this summer (I wrote in it for the first time in months a couple of days ago.). With working about 40 hours per week with Summer of Solutions and spending an additional 12+ per week interning at Brick House Kitchen, my summer is a blur. I think I've blocked some of it out -- the stress that comes along with maintaining a productive team and a very dry garden was overwhelming. I'm lucky that I have pictures to remind me of my successes:

Combining my love for activism, art, and bike-riding in this snazzy poster for our Day of Action! Seventeen summer programs nationwide (including the other 14 Summer of Solutions programs around the country) gathered on July 23rd in their local cities to celebrate and highlight the work they've been doing.

One of our main partners this summer was Bike City Recyclery, and awesome bike co-op located just off Center St. on the trail. Here, we partnered with them to give a workshop on bike maintenance in Walker Park to nearby residents.

I interned this summer under David Lewis in Brick House Kitchen. Incredible. My most frequent task -- washing produce from the market that morning. What a treat!

Making the delicious custards on my last day. You can feast on these at BHK Kafe on Dickson St. (inside Nightbird Books).

It happened rarely this summer, sadly, but I also experimented with food at home, too! This was a delicious meal shared with good friends, concluded with the most delicious banana cake and lemon buttercream icing. Mmmm.

Andrea and I. Together, we spent over 1,000 hours planning and executing this year's Summer of Solutions program in Fayetteville. What a treat it was to work with you.

At the end of the summer, forty representatives from thirteen Summer of Solutions programs nationwide gathered in Raleigh, NC for August Gathering. We celebrated our successes and our friendships and worked through challenges that we'd faced in our local programs. What a week it was and what friendships blossomed. Love you all!

For myself, I'll be documenting this year through sketching. For folks back home, this blog will probably be the venue for some semi-regular updates. Stay tuned!