Missing Home

I'm struggling. I have this great opportunity in front of me and so many interesting possibilities ahead, but for some reason I'm stuck in a bit of feeling sorry for myself. I miss Kerry, I miss Bugs (in that order, promise). I miss all my friends in Duluth. I miss Duluth. I think I feel so melancholic because I'm in a weird transition...between being there and being here...Special thanks to Kerry for being available to Skype with and Kaija for kind words during a rough patch.

I can't quite fully engage here because a part of this transition, a part of "being there" is the exam hanging over my head...Shannon, Suz, Trent and all my EdD buddies have a hell of a test ahead of us this week. We must pass a comprehensive exam over the first two years of our coursework. I can honestly say that studying has been a good experience. I have learned a great deal as I have organized, synthesized and interpreted all of the ideas we are responsible for, but I am so tired of it, so tired; it has gone from being a positive challenge/process to being a heavy weight around my neck. I no longer want to think of contrived examples of "construct validity, " I want to actually compare three items from the Friluftsliv i Forändring survey against the 14 items in the Connectedness to Nature Scale for a REAL measure of construct validity. All right, before many of you tune out due to the geek-speak, my point is that I am really very ready to dive into the research I hope to be doing and this damn test is currently blocking my path. Ok Shannon, Suz, Trent, Brian, Chris, Barb...and all my co-hort friends, here's wishing us a positive end to this crazy few weeks. On Friday I will sit down for a 8 hour trip to hell and on Sat. it is your turn...

Speaking of positive, one of my current goals is to explore the intersect between city and GREEN. I spent a chunk of the past weekend on the Bohusleden (Bohus trail) a trail (not unlike the SHT) that runs not only through Göteborg but throughout this entire coastal region (Bohuslän).

See: http://bohusleden.se/lang/en/

It is exciting to see the trail access to this large city--there's a lot of access related topics I hope to reflect upon and perhaps write about this year...hop on a commuter train for 10 minutes, hop off, walk three blocks and onto the trail. Urban access! I love it. The two pictures are from my explorations on Sunday.


I won't be blogging for a while...after the test I have a short visit from my dear (Swedish) friend Maggan and then it is off to Norway (see, the opportunities are right in front of me--I just need to quench the loneliness and insecurity).

Happy first day of school to all my UMD friends, missing everyone just now.