Trees And Ants: A New Start

Hello, everyone! It’s been a while. So I’ve got a few goals for this blog post. First, I want to explain why I’ve been radio silent for the last 10 months. Second, I want to tell you about some of the things I’ve learned over the last 4 years. And finally, I want to tell you about what’s coming next.

Now that we’re on the same page, I’ll jump right into it.

My Life-Changing Year

A lot happened to me in this last year. My life has changed irrevocably and for the better. With so much change, I’ve done a lot of reflecting. I…

Moved in with my longtime girlfriend and now wife (June 2022)

Started a job at Jeffersonville High School teaching ELA to high schoolers. (July)

Got married in Washington, the one out west with the cool trees. (October)

Took a full load of senior college classes on top of teaching full-time. My first year of teaching! (Through May)

Graduated from Hanover College. Finished my first year of teaching. (May)

Like I said, I’m here to 1) defend my total lack of communication since last summer and 2) talk about some things I’ve learned. For the 1st point, I don’t have much to add. Clearly, I was busy! Hopefully, I’ll post on here more frequently, and I’ll start reviewing movies again, but I’m not too worried right now. It’ll happen eventually.

As for #2, I do think I’ve learned a lot. I’ve been “adulting” (a term I didn’t like before, but now it seems fitting) for almost a year. I have a wife, a real job, a bachelor’s degree, and a lovely apartment… the strange thing is: it all just happens. It’s amazing and a bit awkward. The scenery is incredible. Everybody you love is around. And then it’s over, and it’s only memories. You adapt and it’s all normal.

Our ability to adapt will never stop surprising me.

But I’d like to talk specifically about what I learned from college. I went to Hanover College, a beautiful campus, with lots of forest and trails and spots that overlook the river. We could hike and camp extensively without ever leaving. I wrote a few books while I was there. I changed my lifestyle. I am changing my focus.

What’s fresh on my mind right now is those changes. I’m a lot different than 4 years ago! I grew my hair out. I spend much more time outside: camping, hammocking, hiking, the whole thing. Lots of changes I can’t explain, but I can give you an example.

I’ve always been afraid of change.

The Acre

At Hanover, my friends and I would do lots of hiking. And if we didn’t feel like hiking, we’d just sit in the forest. There are a few spots around campus, well-known to everybody, both faculty and students. One of them, in particular, we spent hours at every week. When your only options are a dorm and a patio, it’s nice to walk around and spend some time outside, especially when you have such a vast and scenic campus.

So The Acre. We don’t have any pictures, none that do it justice. You’ll just have to imagine.

It started as a lush, green hill with a small covered area, a roughly-made roof that could cave in at any moment. Hidden away in the trees. And over time the grass became dirt, and The Acre was visited by more and more people. More people means more trash, more feet. It collapsed, so we rebuilt it our junior year. But despite all of those changes, we had memories there, and it was a familiar –changing– rest spot.

Something about it has always stuck with me. The Acre –as well as other places– will certainly pop up in my books for years to come (including The Misery House). It’s not just Hanover spots, either. My grandma’s porch. The fields where I’d ride my bike as a kid. There’s something magical about the power of words to establish an image. Even if those fields and that porch and The Acre have changed, I can capture a memory of them. And the reader, possibly you, can put your own flourishes on that memory with your imagination. That’s why I write.

I’m the kind of person who fears/resists/avoids change in most ways. This last year had been non-stop change. So when it’s overwhelming, I try to remember The Acre. It’s changed, but it continues on, and one day it will return to the state we found it: green and calm and peaceful. It will always be that in my memory.

Trees And Ants

This brings me to my last point, and I’ll be quick.

When you spend that much time outside for two years, 3 hours a day or more, even during the coldest months, you see a lot of two things: trees and ants. I’ve been thinking about those a lot. I think they’re both admirable, and we should strive to be like them.

Trees are everywhere in Hanover. It’s my favorite part about the campus. They’re all slightly different shades of green, towering over us, blowing in the wind. We were out there once when a crazy windstorm blew in. We thought those trees might kill us. They didn’t, of course, but some did fall.

They change throughout the seasons. Changing colors, changing clothes. But they’re always there. And even when they die or fall, they’ll come back.

So be like a tree. Be steady and reliable, but not afraid of change. Always ready to bounce back. Calm and wise.

We’d also see lots of ants. They would crawl on us –to my despair– or pick up a piece of food and carry it away, dozens of them working together. They were everywhere, always moving. And for a while, I hated them. But even the ants are something to admire.

So be like an ant. Be humble and hardworking. Never afraid of adventure. Always working together. Living in community. Eager to help. Free and wild.

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Thanks for reading this semi-coherent rambling. I’ll be back with… something at some point. I’ve got a book coming out this July (get your copy of The Misery House today!) and lots of interviews coming up. But I wanted to share this with you all first.

I hope your summer is off to a good start, and I hope you find some time to get outside. Whether it’s hiking, camping, or sitting on your porch, watching the trees, I hope you can get outdoors some.