I think someone like me, and ESPECIALLY ME (or more grammatically speaking, I) was born to live in the UP.
Privacy is one of my favorite things (and yes, I know this is a BLOG I am writing). So the UP is perfect for me. Because I can get lost whenever I want. I can go to our camp and not worry about seeing anyone there except for my family (who are among those humans that I love to pieces). I can go for a drive, or drive to work and maybe see 5 (on a busy day) other vehicles. I can do all the curves of the Military Hills area like a car commercial, hugging the curves, pretending to drive fast (although the speed limits on those curves are plenty fast for me) or straying across the yellow line into the passing lane, just a little, randomly (exciting stuff, right?) and it doesn't matter, because there are no other cars in the whole area with me.
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| nobody is coming |
I know that in the UP, getting away from everyone is as simple as taking a few steps off the trail. It's as simple as staying in your house, because people will not stop by uninvited. Neither would you think of showing up uninvited to someone's house. They might have taken a few steps off the trail themselves that day, or are just staying home in their jammies and like the alone time.
Maybe that's why I like to blog. Because then it's my choice, always, when someone stops by. And by stopping by I mean, I can still be in my jammies on a Sunday afternoon, and it's going to be okay, since stopping by my blog means you are just reading about it, after all.
So from what or whom am I trying to escape? Maybe it's hurt. Maybe I am running away from the indifference of friends or relatives I have known in one of my two or three past lives who never saw my value as a person because I was not like them, or because my priorities about how I lived my life were different than theirs.
I wonder and worry sometimes that I am the intolerant one. Because I was the one who moved away from those people, in either a big or a small way. I was the person who knew I couldn't survive without becoming my own person. I was the one who separated myself from the local gossip mill. I was the one who decided that materialism wasn't a big priority in my life. I was the one who decided that it was absolutely time to leave my job of many years. I was the one who kept to myself, and to my small immediate family and extremely small circle of beloved friends instead of spending time with people who were neither of those to me. I was the one moved, ultimately, to Paynesville.
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| the rain stays mainly on the bluebird in Paynesville |
So where does that leave me? Actually, in an almost constantly surprised and delighted state of mind, because I have started to discover a whole new group of people I really like, and to whom I can relate.
Some are casual acquaintances, people with whom I do business in some way. We talk about commonalities, and find that there are many. What a big gratifying surprise. Like the guy who stopped at the shop to see Bob the other day, but since he was busy, told me the story of why he moved to the UP and how he "fell in love" with so many things here. I'm finding more and more that I am definitely not alone in that regard.
Or some who are relatively new acquaintances but who I know are going to be lifelong friends. People with whom I can share stories of experiences that are close to my heart, and laugh and cry about them together, while cementing a bond based on mutual experiences, values, and respect.
So why am I just now, at this time in my life, having these kinds of experiences? I've always been a late bloomer. Maybe I just wasn't ready to relate to people on this level. Maybe I needed to truly find myself and my own voice first.
Or maybe I was in the wrong place for these things to happen. Maybe I needed to take a few steps off the trail....
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| Mrs. Bluebird, looking as thoughtful as I feel today |
Don't be afraid to step off the trail.
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| be careful not to step on the trilliums |
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