Third Time, Feeling Charming

The Beforetimes. Pre-COVID. My last foray outside the Midwest was Valentine's Weekend, 2020, when I met my college besties in New York City for a girls' weekend as beautiful and poignant as similar chick flicks wish they could be. 

Fast forward 15 months, and the storm chasing trip I postponed last year is only 3 days away. So much has changed- beyond the pandemic. I started working at a local anti-poverty organization a little over a year ago, my schnauzer soulmate, Libby, passed away in October, 2020. I started rescuing exotic birds, fish, and reptiles (a lifelong dream of mine that is just as important to me as storm chasing), and I am hosting the inaugural meeting of soon-to-be-nonprofit Chicagoland Exotic Animal Rescue (CLEAR) on June 17th. 

Not to mention; Frankie. My new schnauzer sweetheart loves to give kisses and hold paws; he's the man of my life for sure, and this is his first time meeting my suitcase. Bewilderment, curiosity, TREATS. Priorities, Frankiemonster. He'll head off to Nana Nancy for a week in the suburbs when I depart to Denver on Saturday.

 

Third time with Silver Lining Tours is the charm; when I rescheduled last year's trip I opted to select a tour with a later start date, so that I could see how storms behave a month later than my previous trips in 2018 and 2016. I am honestly so grateful to get away for a minute- if the weather is sunny, I'll go birdwatching. If the weather is tempestuous, I'll be in my happy place: watching a storm rotate over the plains, with the calls of Eastern Meadowlarks in the background. I'll reunite with the growing number of chase buddies I have cultivated over the past 5 years, and regain some of the introspection I had as I embarked upon my 30th year. Unlike 2018, I'm taking a whole week to reaffirm my intimate relationship with Mother Nature.

Next post from Denver on arrival day; bring it on!