I grew up in a very small town. As in one
stoplight, no McDonald’s, I graduated with
80 people, small. Our gas station was also
the video store and the local hang-out. We
were surrounded by lakes, streams, fields,
flowers, and forests. My brother and I didn’t
have video game consoles or cable tv. In
the summer we put grasshoppers and bees
in jars and made them fight. We saved
toads from snakes and caught
salamanders. We made our dog pull us in
the sled and run through the culvert. We
picked raspberries for homemade pies and
went fishing, fell asleep to DIY firefly
lanterns. That’s what we did in the summer.
But the winters were cold. I know you
might think you know what cold is, if you’re
from Chicago or Detroit or Boston or any
other northern town. But this was a
different kind of cold. My camera froze
mid-shutter while taking a picture of the
bank clock that read 25 below zero. School
was sometimes canceled because the busses
and cars were too frozen to start. So I took
piano and cello lessons and drew for hours
to pass the winter time in our small and
sleepy town.
I loved growing up in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan,
and will always cherish my time there. But I had always
been pulled to the West to explore the big city and to
be part of an art and music community. So I earned my
Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from Northern Michigan
University in 1999, and took off to Phoenix, Arizona in
2001. I enjoyed my time in Phoenix, but after 22 years, I
decided to pack up and move again.
I’m not sure where I will end up living next. Right now
I’m open to new adventures!