The same thing happens every year. I take my son away for a delightful Spring Break adventure. And we return home only to be greeted by more blizzards, in April. It’s so discouraging. That, combined with the added bonus of jet lag, has made it particularly hard to find my footing. We’ve been back just over a week and I’m still dazed and confused. But Amsterdam was a goddamned delight. Since 2015 I’ve had the opportunity to spend time in Canada (Montreal, mainly), Denmark, France, Croatia, Germany, Scotland, Ireland, Italy, and The Netherlands. These travels have only reinforced the idea that it is time for me to move on and away from Minnesota. Never mind the political messes of local, state and federal governments here. I returned home to all this nonsense just in the past week:
- More than just a pothole: St. Paul alley attempts to eat recycling truck
- Mother, son arrested after chaos ensues in Eau Claire Walmart: The woman did karate moves, the son took all his clothes off and the dog stole cornbread mix.
- File under truly horrific - a stranger threw a five-year-old child over a third-floor railing of the Mall of America. The boy survived but is seriously injured. The attacker is in custody. But wtf?
- In places like The Netherlands the government offers grants to artists so they can create art full-time without having to worry about the essentials. Here all the artists I know, myself included, have multiple jobs. Several side hustles and maybe a full-time gig to make ends meet. Here are 17 Indie Artists on Their Oddest Odd Jobs That Pay the Bills When Music Doesn’t.
- The Scary Shortage of Infectious-Disease Doctors: Superbugs are spreading. We need doctors trained to treat them. (The shortage is because they aren’t being paid enough.)
It is just about time for me to bug out. But I’m trying to get my now adult son prepared first. A few days ago I took him to a college open house. He was drawn to the art classes, naturally. We were given some paperwork for him to fill out. Once that’s turned in his orientation will be scheduled. This is what we’ve been working toward for a while but it’s all happening now and it’s a little surreal. I’ve been looking into programs like Remote Year for myself. Though I have seen some negative comments about it on Reddit, it is the sort of experience I’m looking for, as a single woman. I’ve done plenty of solo international travel and haven’t experienced any major problems yet, but I appreciate the safety-in-numbers argument. And this program would get me to South America and Asia. Places I would like to visit but not on my own. We’ll see if I can make this - or something like it - happen within the next year or two.
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