Decorah

Hi folks. This past weekend, I took a trip down to Decorah for the annual Nordic Fest celebration/ad-hoc Luther get-together. As usual, it was a great time.

Someone I know made an interesting comment to me, one that has had me pondering. Referring to Decorah, this person said being there made them breathe easier, and feel freer.

Now, keep in mind, we're all Luther grads, so we all have a certain connection to the place that goes beyond just a visitor passing through. But I think this also ties in somewhat with my previous post, the one about transitions and journeys. For a Luther grad, or at least Luther grads like myself and my circle, going to Decorah is almost more of a spiritual event than your typical long weekend away. It certainly contains ritualistic elements. After all, certain things must be done. We must play frisbee golf. We must play trombone. We must stop by the co-op. A peanut butter burger must be consumed at T-Bock's.

And most importantly, above all else, we must spend an evening at La Rana, our Thursday night meeting place of countless pints and slices of crusty French bread. The place has a sort of primal draw, like whales traveling halfway across the ocean to a singular breeding ground. Except of course, we're not whales. We're folks in search of a more innocent past.

Maybe that's a little too dramatic. But that's my explanation of why Decorah retains this simple freedom and this clear air. Forever, it remains a place where we came of age, where we found out who we are, and what we valued. We discovered friends that are more akin to family. For some, we found love. For some, we found meaningful pursuits. But I think everyone found change, the meaningful sort of change.

Objectively, it's definitely a unique town. But it will always remain a special town for me, and always a welcome vacation. I wouldn't normally consider going on a trip to a fish hatchery or a biodiversity farm up here in the Cities, but it seems like a perfectly natural way to spend an afternoon in Iowa.

In any event, it was good to get out of town and see friends. It was good to breathe the country air. And of course, above all, it was good to have my Guinness on Saturday night...

Journeys

Hello folks. Sorry about the sporadic blogging as of late (i.e. the entire summer). I seem to have contracted a case of writer's block, or blogger's block, as it were. That, and I guess I've been busy. The exhausting business of justice in rural Minnesota...

That word: justice. It's like, the lawyer's verbal crack. We just love saying it.

Anyways, I've been thinking a lot about journeys. People in transition. One thing about driving to Glencoe, Minnesota three days a week is that you have plenty of time in the car. By my estimate, it's about 360 miles per week. Some portion of that is spent on I-494, which is actually the country's worst freeway. Now that I think of it, it might be the absolute worst thing I can think of. I despise it passionately. But, these are the times that try men's souls, I suppose.

Back to my point - I have a lot of time in the car. Oddly enough, I kind of enjoy it, because it gives me good opportunities to listen to old podcasts I downloaded but never had a chance to listen to. So, I'm catching up on "This American Life," and I've gotten into this new one by NPR called "Intelligence Squared," where a panel of experts debate certain topics (thanks Kris for that one). Good stuff. But sometimes, I just let the music play, and I can just drive through the countryside and think.

A lot of things are in transition right now, I think. Personally, after 6 years of post-secondary education, I'm finally faced with the prospect of finding a Real Job, sooner rather than later. It's time to be an adult, to be a professional. Which is a good thing, but I suppose it's also a challenge. Kind of feels like being in Neverland, and at long last, being forced to grow up. That's an exaggeration of course, I've had to grow up a long time ago. But bottom line, it's a transition. And of course, how does any self-respecting American male deal with that transition? Buy some new suits.

Check.

Other folks and entities I know are also in transition. A church choir I've been involved with for a long time recently finished its final tour this summer, so it's in transition. I have friends who are coming into and going out of significant relationships; they're in transition. Transition is hard, I think, but it's a good thing. Sometimes, I think it's more difficult for those of us who are watching the changes, because we tend to be selfish, and we want other people or things to conform to our wishes. This kind of goes back to a perpetual issue with ourselves, I think. Not everyone is the same, and we react to things differently, and it's really hard to recognize that.

Bottom line, it's a good thing, and it's a bad thing, and it's a necessary thing, all at the same time. I've learned that it's really hard to let go of people you care about, especially when you don't want to. It's hard to figure out where you're going. But it's probably a good thing, in the end, to be in transition, because this is where you learn who you are. I remember landing in London in 2006, to be there for nine months, and being absolutely scared shitless. I left nine months later with a completely different sense of self, a better one, I think. Not so bad after all.

As an aside, and speaking of being abroad, I think I'm going to go on a trip next summer after I take the bar, to celebrate being done with law school. I don't know where I'll go yet, but it's going to be adventurous. I'm a European minded sort, so it will probably be there. Ideas?

In the meantime though, I guess I'll just keep driving to Glencoe. I have more podcasts to listen to.