The Klaus House Goes West: Day 1, Grand Forks to Great Falls (June 8, 2013)

                 

We (my mother, brother, and myself) were on the road around 6 A.M., and for the first hour or two it seemed like the road belonged only to us, the truck drivers, and the golden light of the rising sun. As we passed Fargo and headed west on I-94 we were gradually joined by more travelers like ourselves. 

The travel highlight of the day was stopping in the Badlands at Theodore Roosevelt National Park. As always, the Badlands are an inspiring sight. You drive across generally flat grasslands and then suddenly, without a warning, the earth opens up and the scene is dominated by jutting red rocks and stunted trees. Each layer or rock seems to be a different rosy shade, which contrasts sharply with the greenery that manages to find a foothold in the sandy soil. This trip was especially memorable because the buffalo that inhabit the park decided to come and say hello to all the visitors. My family has been visiting the Badlands for longer than I can remember, and we have never had the buffalo willingly come and graze so close to people! It was a slightly crazy but amazing moment, and one that will probably never happen to me again no matter how many more times I visit the area. :)

That dark shape sitting at the edge of the cliff in the center is a buffalo!

Family Time!

In my family the Badlands are filled with memories of happy camping trips and a reverence for the beauty held within the park. Do you remember in the Lion King when the hyenas shiver at the word "Mufasa?" Replace "Mufasa" with "Badlands" and you have our reaction in a nutshell! If there was one place I would tell everyone who passes through ND (or live there for that matter) to go, it would be Theodore Roosevelt National Park. Seriously guys, please, if you get the chance or if you have to change your schedule to make it, do yourself a favor and just go there! 

After the Badlands we headed through Dickinson (yes, that is its real name... but feel free to take a few seconds to snicker if you feel the need) and through to Montana 200. The road is a two lane highway with many hills, so keep your eyes peeled for the escaped sheep/cattle/antelope that has wandered onto the road. Other than that and the occasional hairy pass to get around a truck, this portion of the drive was uneventful. The terrain we went through was empty grassland dotted with cattle and the occasional beaten up looking ranch or town. 

TIP: Fill up in the last city in North Dakota before you continue into Montana, because there isn't another gas station until you hit Great Falls! 

We pulled into Great Falls around 6:00 P.M. and I am forever grateful to our family friend Sue- she had dinner cooked up and waiting for us. There are few things more lifting to ones mood than being surprised with delicious food after a long day in the car! During and after dinner there was happy chatter as we all caught up with one another, but by 8:00 P.M. we travelers were weary and soon found ourselves fast asleep in our beds. 

And Thus Ended Day 1 of the Klaus' Trip West.

-AK

The March 5: Five Lessons About Spring In North Dakota

Hello! Long time no chat!

As April is now upon us, I thought I would take a moment and share five lessons that I have learned about March while living in North Dakota. 

1) March can come in like a lion and leave like a lion- March don't care. Seriously people, we had what was probably the worst blizzard all winter yesterday, and woke up today to almost a foot of freshly fallen snow and the chilly temperatures that we normally associate with January and February. BRRRR!! 

2) Speaking of cold, after a while the number after the (-) sign ceases to matter. Cold is just cold. 

3) The wind is your constant companion- love it or hate it, it will always be there.

4) Clear skies and sun= more layers (sometimes it is just better to look ridiculous and be warm).

5) There is always time for one more cup of hot chocolate or five more minutes of chat before you head out the door. Accept this and you will always leave a friend's home well prepared to brave the cold.

I hope you are staying warm this spring season,

AK

Taking Back Christmas

Hello everyone and happy holiday season!!

I love the holidays, and if you are like me, you are humming Christmas carols, checking people off of your shopping list, and waiting patiently for the Christmas season to start. This year I have three Christmas', which means lots of food, laughter, and lots of gifts to be swapped. I. Am. So. Excited. 0.0

However, if you had talked to me three years ago my outlook on Christmas would have been quite different. Growing up I loved Christmas, but after working the holiday rush at Target for three years I must admit that my holiday spirit was incredibly dampened. Instead of a time to enjoy people and connect, Christmas became something to dread and be critical of. Instead of appreciating the holiday giddiness that surrounded me, I grumbled and called the shopping stupid and got frustrated at all the little silly things people do when holiday shopping/returning their earlier holiday shopping. Christmas music became annoying- not so much because of the stress of working late night retail over the holidays, but more because I was in choir and we started singing holiday tunes in October and by December I had become tired of hearing holiday jingles.* In total, my holiday joy was crippled.

And the worst part was, it took me a while to realize it. I couldn’t see the changes, because, like many changes, these ones started out small. A grumble here. A murmur there. A shared laugh over a sarcastic Christmas themed joke with co-workers. I didn't notice that what I really loved about Christmas was slipping away from me. I still had fun buying gifts for those I cared for and spending time with my family. I told myself that I was still infused with the joy of the season, but I wasn't. It wasn't that I turned into a green Grinch or was cruel to those who hadn't had their holiday spirit dampened, but I had become blind to the magic and the joyful glimmer that surrounds the season. I no longer focused on the positives, and the negatives became a source of constant irritation.

But I did eventually realize it, and for the past two years I have been working to take back Christmas. Being out of direct retail has helped, but what really helped was me making a conscience effort to harvest the positive aspects of the season and use them to counteract the negatives. So this year I started humming Christmas tunes in July (which was probably a bit too soon) and started my Christmas shopping in August (the Christmas crowds stress me out a bit, so thank goodness for internet shopping). I am looking forward to my three Christmas celebrations, to spending my first Christmas with Bob's family this weekend, my second Christmas with my immediate family and with my 'not really blood related but you are my family' family (you know who you are), and my third Christmas with Bob, my dear friend Cathy, Anne, Darrin, and my parents. I am looking forward to learning the holiday traditions of others and enjoying my own. I am patiently waiting to see the looks of surprise on Anne, Darrin, Bob, Cathy, and Bruce's faces when they find their stockings and open their gifts. For the laughter and the "oh you shouldn't haves" and the "oh no, really I should haves." I am excited to team up with my Mother and Brother (if he makes it for Christmas eve *fingers crossed*) to convince my Dad that we really do open one gift Christmas Eve every year. To wake up on Wednesday and jump out of bed and race around the house excitedly calling everyone to the tree, to see my parents purposely insist on waiting to open anything until after they have brewed fresh coffee and had a cup and a bite to eat, to pretend to be annoyed by their purposeful delays. I am taking back my Christmas spirit, and immersing myself in everything the season has to offer.

How are you taking back your Christmas spirit?

(Sneak peek of a portrait series of my brother)

-AK

 
*P.S.: I loved being in choir and in no way am I trying to discourage people from participating in choirs or practicing Christmas music. I fully understand that choirs practice the compositions early because they want to perform them perfectly for their audience, and I think that is wonderful. Unfortunately, at the point in my life that I am currently referencing, I was struggling to remember those things and to appreciate the beauty and magic of the season.

Happy Halloween!

Hello my lovely readers,

I am technically writing this the day before Halloween, but I figure that most of you probably will read this tomorrow ( it is almost 10 after all! *gasp*) and plus, I wanted to wish everyone a happy Halloween a little early! (Wait till Christmas, it is my favorite holiday and I am already dreaming about pine trees and singing Christmas carols!) Anyways, I hope that you are all going to have an amazing Thursday and that you spend your All-Hallows Eve in good company! For some of you that might mean dressing up in crazy costumes and partying until the wee hours of the morning, and for others it might entail a quiet night at home watching Netflix and handing out candy to children, but I hope that whatever your choice you have a smashingly wonderful time! :) 

This photo was taken with Icarus (my Nikon D60) and edited using VSCO's 02 film pack in Photoshop.

Till next time, with wishes for your good health and happiness,

AK

Reflections on the idea of "Home" and a quick update :)

Dear readers,

I have never been able to give my heart to one place, on destination. Growing up, the word "home" was malleable in meaning- it could mean the state in which I lived (ND), the place where my mom grew up (WI), a specific house (whichever one we were living in at the time), or whatever house we were staying at while traveling. Like ivy, my family roamed across the northern half of the United States- we spread our tendrils out into the wide world while at the same time sinking our roots into my hometown for stability. Our bonds with our friends and with each other were our source of strength, and I could never quite give my heart to a particular town. It seemed like everywhere we traveled to had a different reason to be loved, a different flavor to enjoy.
I was not, however, a tumbleweed. My family was incredibly fortunate- despite being in the Air Force we stayed in the same location for much of my childhood. Our travels were to visit family and to explore the National Parks and wonders of the USA. I am well aware that many of my fellow Air Force friends were not so fortunate- I had many friends who were transferred to a new location year after year, who were truely like tumbleweeds drifting from one base to the next with each set of orders. No, I learned early that despite my love for travel I liked having a place to store my stuff, a place to curl up and read a book, to sleep in peace, to think in. Yet that location was not where my entire heart belonged. Perhaps you will call it the no popular term of "wanderlust," perhaps it is a testament to the wide world to which I was exposed to as a child, but the house and town that I grew up in do not hold my entire heart.
As I have gotten older I have begun to accept the idea that my heart may belong to a much broader place- the North. Places covered in lush forests and dotted by quite (and not so quiet) lakes. Places who accept the fact that snow will cover the ground for a greater portion of the year than the grass. Places full of hardy folk who know the importance of friendship and family, who know that the warmth of a gathering among friends can block out the biting winter chillls. How else can I explain the way my heart soars at the sight of hardy conifers, the majesty of bald eagles, the unforgiving expanses of the plains? The fact that I feel a kind of homesickness when I come across pictures of the northwest and northeast coasts of the US, when I stumble across images from England and Ireland? Is it possible to love the lands above a certain latitude? 

The above post is something I have been thinking about for the past few weeks. Below is the summary of my adventures via instagram photos from the past month or two. :) I have been camping, kayaking, learning new things, and learning more about myself as I go. :) I hope that everyone has had as lovely of a summer as I have been having! #adventureIsOutThere 

Saw the Postal Service for the first time!!! It was AMAZING!

Bob and I kayaking in Minneapolis! :)

Minnehaha Falls

Itasca in July

Itasca State Park! (If you are in Minnesota you should take the time and stop here!)

I got Bob up at five in the morning and we went and watched the sunrise paint the lake and the sky with soft purples and pinks. :)

North Dakota weather #thatNDSky

First time kayaking! :)

Reduce, Reuse, Re-cycle

The camping group :)

#whpReplaceYourFace

#thatNDSky

Itasca State Park- Seriously people, just visit it! :)

 Well, this post has been a bit of a smorgasbord of updates and ponderings! For those of you who are wondering, I am still working on my ISBN project, if you would like to take part please email me at akphotog@hotmail.com. :) For those of you who are wandering, exploring, and having adventures, I hope that you are having a blast!

Thank you for giving me your time and attention!

Until next time,
AK <3