And since being here...

I can't believe I have been here for a month now! In some ways I feel like I was just in California, but on the other hand I really do feel like I live here now. I don't feel like a visitor, I feel like a resident. I am starting to know my way around, and the routine of driving certain drives brings a sense of familiarity I've craved. I actually really enjoy driving around here. Everything is straight and flat, but the scenery is sensational. My drive from my house to school is lined with trees, thick and full just about the whole way. And as fall approaches, the leaves are beginning to change. Most of them are still unchanged, but there are pockets of bright orange, red and yellow that seem brighter still against the backdrop of lush green. The red brick of the houses and large stone churches also vie for my attention-- I enjoy buildings that are not made of stucco. (Also lining the streets are all kinds of roadkill, but that doesn't really add much to the overall beauty.) As I drive, I roll down the windows, suck in the clean air, and listen to a mix I've named oh so wittily 'Fall Mix'. Under such conditions, I actually look forward to making the 20 minute drive.

Something else that I've quickly grown used to are the sounds I hear at night. Back in my old apartment, I loved sleeping by the window. Jess and I'd have it open every night and fall asleep to sounds of traffic, trains rushing by, and sirens. Now, I open the window and hear crickets, frogs croaking and other sorts of nature unidentifiable to me. People in California can fall asleep to these sounds too, they just have to pay for a machine that produces them. .

Anyway, these are some of the things I'm feeling fortunate to experience. I don't want to overlook any of the small things, because they are all part of my whole story in Indiana.