Fall 2020 Updates

The year 2020 is almost over, and I expect that many people are glad of it. While this was a difficult year for me, it was also a surprisingly good one. Now, as Winter approaches, it’s time for me to leave Colorado and begin the next phase of my journey.

When COVID was declared a pandemic in the Spring, I was just as scared as everyone else. It looked like I would lose both of my jobs, and I lost an international writing assignment that I’d spent two years working towards.

Faced with such disheartening prospects, I did something I’d been thinking of for years: I joined AmeriCorps. That was the best decision I could’ve made.

I ended up moving to Boulder, Colorado in July to work with the City of Boulder’s Open Space and Mountain Parks (OSMP) department.

I’m going to recount my experiences in Colorado in detail over the coming months, but for now I’ll say that I’ve cherished my time here. I’ve met incredible people, reconnected with old friends, and had amazing wildlife encounters.

Unfortunately, I’ll be leaving Colorado in a just over one week.

When I first arrived in Boulder I had every intention of staying. The city was the right kind of weird for me, the people were nice, and I loved Colorado’s landscape. But it didn’t look like that’d be possible – thanks to COVID – so I started looking for other opportunities.

After considering many options, I decided to commit to another 11 months of AmeriCorps. This time I’ll be moving to a state that I never thought I’d visit: Montana.

In January of 2021 I’ll begin serving as a Cultural & Heritage Park Steward with the Montana State Parks. I’ll be working at Chief Plenty Coups State Park outside of Billings, where I’ll perform a variety of field and interpretive services. My duties will include:

• Building and maintaining trails,
• Managing the park’s social media accounts,
• Archival work in the park’s museum,
• Educating visitors about Chief Plenty Coups and the region’s history (digitally and hopefully in person),
• Combatting invasive species,
• and more.

I’m stoked about this new ‘job.’ It’ll combine my love for nature and history, and push me to expand my intercultural skills. In short, it seems like a great way to spend the rest of the pandemic.

As for this blog, I have a lot to catch up on. I’ve been living in an OSMP-supplied house since July; and, since they have an expensive internet provider, I’ve been trying to use the internet sparingly.

While it was nice to have time away from the internet to think, I have tons of content from my time in Colorado. Thus, I hope to spend the month of December writing posts to fill you all in on what I’ve been doing in the Rockies.

I’ve also been sitting on post drafts unrelated to Colorado for months, so I want to get those up, too.

It seems that I’m heading into another period of change. I’m sad to leave behind all the friends I’ve made in Colorado (if you’re reading this, you know who you are), but I feel that my time in Montana will make me a better person.

Goodbye Colorado – I’ll miss you.