summer in Wherelings and Whenlings

it's been a month and a half since i've gotten back from vacation and i think it might finally be summer. which is a relief in a lot of ways, because it's going to be a summer of a lot of changes and i can't dread them anymore because they're finally here, but also really stressful, because they're finally here

three of my roommates are moving out and four new ones are moving in. this process started a few days ago and will be completed in september, since people have different move-out months, and there is some subletting involved, blah blah blah. i'm really sad about this. i think i had as close to perfect of a six-person house as it is possible to get, so i can't help but be skeptical of the new people, even if they SEEM alright, because they couldn't possibly match the current group. also, i'm just sad because my roommates are my community, and they are moving as far away as possible as it is possible to move (portland, maine, and berkeley) within our borders and it's going to be very lonely without them.

on the plus side, i have been hanging out with two lady-friends quite a bit lately, and they're both awesome and i knew them both before already and liked them a lot but it seems like they like me too! and we go dancing and talk about tearing down the prisons and the borders and drink wine and giggle a lot. it's kind of ridiculous how much we giggle, actually

our gardens, understandably, were slow to get started because it's been a cold spring, but now the tomatoes and peppers are shooting up, and our hop plants are snaking their way along some rope we put up around the yard in hopes of creating a leafy trellis and the chickens ate all the flowers i planted but it's okay because i get to eat non-factory eggs in the morning, and the park nearby is a lush green and whenever i don't want to see buildings i just look out over the lake, which is like looking out over the ocean because it just blends into the sky

i bought a touring bike on the internet, a cookie-monster-blue surly long haul trucker, and the first place i had it take me was the des plaines river out in the suburbs. i know the suburbs are shitty for a lot of reasons, and there is a particular vehemence reserved for them by people who moved to "the city" from them, but i love open spaces and i love the woods, and chicago's parks do not fulfill my needs in the least

in august i'm going to take a 36 hour train ride to glacier national park in montana, and i'm going to ride to seattle, and then to portland, and i've never been to any of these places but based on my experience in the desert this spring, i might cry when i see them and never want to come back. i could fake my death and forsake my obligations and find a nice abandoned cabin to occupy

my sister is graduating high school this friday. i'm 100% sure this would not be happening if i hadn't moved back. she is going to go to college in a small wisconsin state school. another change. she is excited and nervous and i'm excited and nervous for her and i'm going to miss her. but i'm so glad she's escaping. and despite how much i hate chicago, i'm so glad i was here