Ohio Is Within an Area Mother Nature Lovingly Refers to as 'The Wind Tunnel'

With my first week and a half of summer break complete, I’m still finding it hard to believe that I don’t have classes on Monday or a paper due Wednesday! It’s nice to have a break, and I’m glad that the holiday is here at last, but now I have Ohio weather to grapple with for a nice summer! I am glad that the colder, fall-like weather held off until I was able to get my garden mostly into the shape I want it, minus the delay on seeding, and the frost hopefully won’t cause too much of a problem. My dad and I were able to get our vegetable garden planted as well, and we had to be careful to cover the little pepper and tomato plants to prevent death via the frost, but they survived, and our corn, beans and peas are even popping up now!

Not only have I invested my free time in gardening, but I’ve also thrown time into getting some reading for pleasure done. It’s nice to be able to read a good book for just the joy of it and not have to worry about having major quiz or journal and in-depth discussion/analysis on it. My reading roster currently has Ohio Wesleyan’s own Dr. Olmstead’s latest release, Coal Black Horse at the top, of which I’ve polished off the first few chapters. It’s very interesting to read a novel by someone you know from class, especially when you hear his voice, like he’s sitting there reading it aloud to you over your shoulder. My favourite part still has to be the upside-down boy which amused everyone at his afternoon reading in the library, but I’ll withhold a full review until I’ve completed the book, which has been quite enjoyable thus far. Next up is a lighter read, The Amber Spyglass by Philip Pullman. My tutorial class and I sped through the first two novels of his Dark Materials series, and not finishing it seems more than criminal. After that I plan to read The Song of Roland in its entirety since the exert I read for a course first semester touched me so deeply. (Saying that one reads a lot of good and interesting books while in college is a gross understatement, seriously.)

Besides reading I’ve also indulged in getting some art started now that I have more time. I’m working to get the lines finalized on a new painting, and I have several other drawings/paintings in mind as well. My creative writing is also getting more attention, but I’m still hovering over my final project for my tutorial, which was a creative writing piece that’s actually quite close to my heart. I impressed myself with being able to crank out its fifteen-and-a-half pages in such a short amount of time, especially since I’m very OCD about my writing, particularly the fictional sort. Being able to write a fantasy story to end our children’s fantasy tutorial was a dream come true, and it felt great to have that to look forward to compared to the exams offered up in other courses, so it also served as a bit of a stress reliever if one ignores all the worry I put into every detail.

German Phrase of the Moment
Es schmeckt or lecker are both ways of saying something tastes good, and are pretty much pronounced how they look. Es schmeckt directly translates as ‘it tastes,’ but it’s idiomatic and fun, if I do say so myself. Lecker is simply ‘tasty.’ Good phrases/words to have on hand while enjoying various treats this summer. (Or ‘Sommer’ ;) )

And now some pictures for your viewing pleasure, all taken from my home here in Ohio. I'll look into getting some of areas popular to visit from good ol' OWU soon!