Field Notes Vol. 2: Camping Trip, 5k Club, and More

Something Relaxing: Canoeing and Camping in the Boundary Waters

Last week, I went with some friends on a canoeing and camping trip in the Boundary Waters Canoe Area (BWCA). The BWCA is a canoe-only wilderness area that borders Minnesota and Canada. This was my first backcountry camping trip and I really enjoyed it! 

Look! I caught a fish! 

Being on the water every day, fishing, taking naps in my hammock, hanging out by our campfire, and spending a whole week outside was refreshing for my soul. I feel more relaxed and focused than I have been in a while. Plus, being away from my regular activities for a while always gives me a better perspective. 

Something New: Steubenville 5K Club

This morning I was able to check out a new activity: Steubenville's 5K Club! I came across the Facebook group a month or two ago, but wasn't able to make it to any of the runs until this morning. The group runs twice a week: Wednesday evenings and Saturday mornings. Each week the route changes to cover a new part of the city, which is a super fun way to explore! 

It was good to get out of the house and get a run in, since I haven't been running much in the last two weeks. Vacation threw me out of routine. I'm ready to get going again and meet some new people along the way.

Something I'm Reading: Wise Blood by Flannery O'Connor

Actually, I finished this book on Thursday evening, but here we go. Wise Blood is one of two novels by Flannery O'Connor. Because of her Gothic style and unattractive (but very human) characters, Flannery is an acquired taste. Many people don't like reading her stories. But I've always found them interesting, so I thought I'd give this novel a try.

In the foreword to the book, O'Connor describes it as a "comic novel." The word comic is deceptive; the book is not funny, but quite serious. It's a comedy in the sense that it has a happy ending, not a tragic one. By the end of the book, the main character seems to finally understand the impact of his sins and the need to do penance for them. 

Here's one passage I love that shows O'Connor's master craftsmanship and wry sense of humor. Watch for the punch line at the end. 

"The black sky was underpinned with long silver streaks that looked like scaffolding and depth on depth behind it were thousands of stars that all seemed to be moving very slowly as if they were about some vast construction work that involved the whole order of the universe and would take all time to complete. No one was paying any attention to the sky." 

Something Precious: A Flower

As I was coming into the coffee shop to write this blog post, a little girl handed me a purple petunia. I'm pretty sure she picked it off of the potted plant on the sidewalk! But still, the unexpected gift brought me joy. It's the little things!

Reading Room: The Opposite of Loneliness

After the tragic death of a 2012 Yale graduate, her parents and teachers decided to publish a collection of her fiction and non-fiction. The young author was Marina Keegan. The book is The Opposite of Loneliness, a spunky, yet polished, journey into the struggles of the young generation.

Throughout the collection, Keegan’s voice as a writer is effectively conveyed, which calls for a nod of appreciation to those who chose which pieces to include. Although Anne Fadiman, one of Keegan’s teachers, states in the introduction that Marina would have wanted to revise the pieces more before publication, they are nevertheless polished. None of the stories seems unfinished, and the essays are precise in their scope.

Always humorous, Keegan keeps her audience engaged through her shocking statements. For example, Keegan begins an essay about celiac disease with a list of items that she will instruct the nurse to bring her on her deathbed—goldfish, Oreos, cold beer—and the reader begins to wonder why these items are related. After a bit of suspense, Keegan reveals that these food items all contain gluten, which is harmful to those with celiac disease. (Keegan herself has the disease she is writing about.) It is a nostalgic way to begin an essay about a serious topic.

In both her fiction and essays Keegan does not refrain from writing about the struggles of her age, which led one critic to label her “a new voice of her generation.” Does writing about drug addiction and the pain of undefined relationships really make Keegan a superb writer though? Sure, Keegan expresses the moral longing of a generation, but she never comes to any answers. For some readers, this may be problematic. Is it okay to ask the questions, but not to answer them?

However, Keegan’s overall attitude towards the world remains one of hope. She senses the potency of her youth and seeks to convey this to her Yale classmates in the titular essay, “What we have to remember is that we can still do anything. We can change our minds. We can start over.” Some of Keegan’s other essays, such as “Song for the Special,” point toward this hope and remind readers that they can change. And this is where Marina Keegan’s true brilliance as a writer lies—in sparking a light in her readers’ hearts.