Craig and I have been in Bartlett, New Hampshire for four weeks. We went to Vermont and saw Lauren. Lauren came to New Hampshire and saw us. We skipped over the Maine border to go for a hike. The forests and roadsides were paved with ladyslippers. I drank cheap coffee to not fall asleep while staring at paper towels littered with tiny, dirty roots.
I leave Saturday to drive to California. It is nigh time to leave the comfortable womb of my east coast plant knowledge and embark on a journey westward to the unknown. Evergreens of epic proportion! No biting bugs! No cactus spines! No giant hairy poison ivy vines! I have resolved some things. I am going to go backpacking like before. I am going to eat healthy, cheap food. And I am 
going to try and have fun even though I'll be missing Craig and Fatty. The three of us will be separated by thousands of miles for the rest of the summer.But fear not! We will reunite in the end of August to move into the most amazing apartment with a giant kitchen, wood floors, and tons of windows. I am moving back to the Rust Belt, to "settle" for a couple years in the sleepy, creaky city of Syracuse. I intend to study. something. I intend to make a friend or two. Get a job. somewhere.
