10/10/2022

Fall is upon us, and it has already been treating me so well. 

Fall in Wisconsin

So far this fall, I have already had several camping adventures. A few weekends ago, Jacob and I drove up to Door County to camp for a weekend at Peninsula State Park. I had never been to Door County before, but had heard lots of great things.

Door County was not exactly what I expected. It was very touristy, but in an upscale/wealthy kind of way. There were a lot of like sailing-themed boutiques, nice restaurants, and I was impressed that I didn't see a single chain restaurant. Despite the fact that it turned out to be a persistently rainy weekend, there were a ton of people out and about. Hundreds and hundreds of people in the streets of the downtown areas checking out the shops and restaurants. 

Jacob and I got into the campsite Friday late afternoon, and I was astonished at how lovely the site was. There were tons of tall trees but their branches didn't start till quite high up. There wasn't really anything in the way of privacy from other sites, but we didn't really care about that. I recently got a new two-person Marmot tent for us to use and we have used it several times now. It weighs a bit over 5 pounds and is suiting us just fine. Got that set up and we decided to go for a bit of a walk while we had daylight. It hadn't started raining for the weekend yet at this point. We walked to the shore and enjoyed the view of the lake at dusk. We decided to jog/scamper down the rocky shore and see what there was to see along the peninsula. It was tough to jog because the beach was comprised of just big rocks and driftwood. We're frankly lucky neither of us broke an ankle. We saw a ton of seagull feathers and bones. It felt cool and somewhat unexplored. Eventually, we reached a point where we figured we needed to turn around to head back. Instead of backtracking the shore, we decided to try to climb up the short cliffside to go inland a bit and see if we could find a road. We pulled ourselves up by tree branches and roots and continued walking. We were excited to shortly thereafter stumble upon a lighthouse on the peninsula. We walked around it in the lingering light and felt like proper explorers. Then we jogged back to the site.

Earlier in the afternoon, we had scavenged for quite a while in the woods for dead branches and downed wood for the fire, since we hadn't brought any firewood. We had collected enough to burn for a couple hours. We had noticed a fair amount of trash in the woods, which I was certain was the work of raccoons having snatched packaged foods from sites and left the remains in the woods. We got our fire going and set to the task of making dinner, impossible burgers cooked in a pan over the fire. Mind you, at this point it is about 7 o'clock. Jacob's got his headlamp on because it has only just gotten properly dark, but just barely. As we're working on the burgers, all of a sudden Jacob looks back towards the picnic table about 12 feet away and goes "raccoons! The food!" His headlamp illuminated the table. We had a tote bag of dry, nonrefrigerated foods sitting on the picnic table. I am not a camping novice, so I know to put everything in the car overnight so raccoons don't get into it. But it was literally only 7 PM at this point and we were still making our dinner, so of course the stuff was still out. I did not expect raccoons so early. These raccoons were unlike anything I'd ever seen before. First of all, they were literally obese. Huge, rounded bellies. Slow, lumbering walk. And fearless. They didn't care that we were there. I leapt up and tried to scare them off the table, but they didn't give two shits about my existence. I had to stomp on the picnic table itself to make them go away. They made off with a bag of cap'n crunch, spilling half of it on the table and the ground as they made off with the goods. They hurried (as much as they could in their enlarged state) into the woods to enjoy their bounty, while I stood there flabbergasted. They had nibbled into the hamburger buns as well. I swept all the cereal off the table, but there were simply too many little pieces to pick it all up off the ground, so we sat helplessly by the fire while the raccoons soon after came back to finish off the leftovers from the ground. Then, only once they were convinced they'd fully cleaned up, did they head back into the woods. 

Apart from the raccoon debacle and the persistent rain, it was a fine trip. It did rain beginning that night and continued through the morning into the day. Jacob and I made an oatmeal dehydrated meal for breakfast and headed out in the car to drive around and see the sights. We went to an overlook and walked around for a bit, and had lunch in town. Again, it was very busy with tourists, every restaurant and shop busy and the sidewalks crowded. Farther out away from town, there were many orchard/pumpkin patch/farm store type places crowded with folks buying the typical fall harvest of fresh apples, pies, caramel, pumpkins, gourds, and squash. We didn't stop at any of those places, although I think it would have been cute if we had.

Bones we found on the shore of the peninsula. Ginger's hands for scale.

We played a few games under Jacob's tarp on the hammock back at the campground, but eventually decided we should cut our losses and head back home early rather than spend another night and day in the rain. It was a little bit discouraging to cut the trip short due to the poor weather, but oh well.

More recently, this weekend, we camped at a campground near Lake Mills. We were staying in the area with some of Jacob's coworkers because they are all cycling fans and Trek headquarters is near there. There was an international cycle cross event hosted there that weekend, so we camped Saturday night and spent Sunday at the races. It was fun camping with a bigger group of people (about 8 people). Jacob and I were the first ones to the campsite that Saturday afternoon, and we spent an hour or so gathering wood for the fire and setting things up. We enjoyed Beyond burgers over the fire and eventually the rest of the group arrived for more foodies and smores. Jacob is not fully vegetarian, but generally eats vegetarian when he eats with me. 

I have never camped past September before, to my knowledge, and it was definitely chilly but not miserable. Jacob and I both were bundled up in our separate Kelty sleeping bags, drawstrings pulled tight to bunch the hoods around our faces. I had two sweatshirts on, sweatpants, gloves, a hat, and socks with hand warmers inside them. The handwarmers worked great and stayed warm all night. We didn't have the rain fly on the tent, so that probably let more cold air in, but we had never slept in the tent without the rain fly on, so we were curious to give it a go. Jacob and I both had bizarre dreams, perhaps because of the less-than-ideal sleeping conditions. Our bodies and brains must have been jumbled.

View from the tent the morning of October 9th

By the campfire Saturday night 

After some apple cider donuts and pumpkin cheesecake bread for breakfast by the fire, we packed everything up and headed to the cycling event. It was a massive event with people from around the country and racers from around the world. Everybody looked so outdoorsy/hip/cool. There were booths for cycling brands where you could peruse merchandise and fancy bikes. Racers were set up with RVs, trailers, tents with cycling brand and sponsor logos--warming up in the shade on their stationary bikes or hooked up to trainers. As we walked past them, admiring their athleticism and their gear, it felt like they were zoo animals and we were observing them. I think they are kind of used to it. We couldn't help but watch these athletes in awe. The race we observed first that afternoon was the womens'. It was something like an hour or so of intense racing all around the course, up steep hills, around sharp curves, over bumpy rock gardens, and over intentionally placed obstacles. Jacob finished up his mountain biking season about a month ago and has taken up cyclocross in its place, so I recognized the style of racing and the course features from spectating a couple of his cycle cross races. 

It was fantastic weather to be outside spectating the races. It was October 9th, and we enjoyed mostly sunny skies and mild weather. I was in a light quarter-zip for most of the time. The unfortunate thing about spectating cyclocross is it requires a lot of moving around (if you want to actually watch different points of the race, anyway). I was getting a little bit irritable with all of the moving around, the back and forth, the backtracking, the indeciveness of where to spectate from. It's hard to do something like that with a larger group of people. I enjoyed the day but was anxious to get home that afternoon, mostly because I had left my newly adopted cat, Columbus, home alone for 27 hours.

Oh my gosh, I literally only just realized that I haven't written about Columbus yet. I had been contemplating getting a pet for a long time. I adopted Columbus from MADACC in Milwaukee about a month ago. He was so scared and traumatized at the shelter. I met with more social, playful cats, but I decided on Columbus because I wanted to adopt a cat that maybe wasn't super adoptable. Columbus is about five years old and had been at the shelter a bit longer than usual, according to the volunteers there. I took him home the same day I met him. 

He was terrified to get to my apartment. He managed to slink under cabinet doors and hid behind the washer-dryer unit for nearly four hours. I was terrified of having him back there. First of all, I didn't even know he'd be able to get back there. Then I worried he wouldn't be able to get out. I worried there was stuff back there--cords and god knows what--that he would get into or choke on. I worried he would overheat and dehydrate. 

Eventually, after much, much, much coaxing, he came out for water. And pretty much since that time, he's been comfortable. Within 36 hours, he totally transformed into a different cat from the one I met at the shelter. He became very cuddly, playful, and social. He likes to nuzzle my feet and flop down by them to lay his head on them. He enjoys swatting his water out of his bowl and knocking it around so the water sloshes out, much to my chagrin. He enjoys his toys, and has lost all three of his mice toys (I don't have a large apartment, I truly cannot understand where they have gone). He has messed with a couple of my plants, which is unfortunate, but cannot seem to be helped, as the weather has gotten too brisk to keep them on my balcony. He is, overall, a joy to have around. He does get onto the counter tops which bothers me to no end. I have yelled at him and sprayed him with water and chased him off the counter tops more times than I can count. 

He is my emotional support animal, and luckily, he provides me emotional support slightly more often than he causes me anxiety. I am learning that cats are pretty self-sufficient and can entertain themselves. It brings me solace that he at least enjoys playing with his toys. He also gets into this bizarre, possessed, psycho-mode where he sprints along the length of the entire apartment, sliding on the wood floors right into the glass balcony door. He always slides into it with a little 'thump.' It clearly doesn't hurt him cause he keeps doing it. He'll jump up and dart his eyes around, poised to pounce as if he's seeing things around him that I can't see. It's so bizarre and I don't understand it, but I just hope he's having fun. 

I must leave it at that for now. I am loving fall in Milwaukee so far.

9/12/2022

What have I been watching?: Survivor - Winners at War

What have I been listening to?:Jackie Onassis - ELIO

I have a lot to catch up on. Shortly after I took my bar exam, my family left on a trip to Washington. We flew out from Minneapolis and stayed in Washington for about a week. During that time, we did a lot of great hiking and sightseeing and stayed in a couple AirBnBs. We went to Mount Rainier National Park; Olympic National Park; Rialto beach; Forks, Washington (Twilight fans know); among other places.

I'll throw some pics in to help me remember.

For the most part, we had great weather. Only on one or two days did we have rainy/dreary weather. 

I don't recall the order in which we did things, so here are some highlights:

• We hiked through a bit of Mount Rainier, and I was stunned by the vibrance of the water in the lakes and rivers on/near the mountain. It was turqoise blue, so bright it looked like it had been artificially dyed. It was pretty cold water, but I couldn't pass up the opportunity to swim in one of those crazy blue rivers. So I stripped down to my underwear and jumped in. It was an awesome experience. During our hike there, we saw some gorgeous falls as well. Seeing the bright turquoise waters and being able to swim in them was my favorite part of the trip.
• We walked along Rialto Beach. It is this long stretch of beach with tons and tons of massive driftwood. Driftwood is probably not the most accurate word to describe the full downed trees that line the beach. It was quite a dreary and somewhat rainy day that day, so it wasn't my favorite part of the trip, but the coolest part was when we spotted a few small seals in the ocean not too far from the shore. We kept staring out, trying to get another glimpse of them. They'd pop back up every once in a while.
• We explored around Snoqualmie, Washington, and spotted some waterfalls there and at Mount Baker-Snoqualmie National Forest. We enjoyed a bit of perusing at gift shops, as well.
• We checked out Pike Place Market and got drinks from the world's first ever Starbucks. Pike Place Market is a somewhat overwhelming place, but decent place to wander around for an hour or two. It's an indoor market comprised of multiple floors. Some of the sections are food-based (fish market, produce) and there were a lot of beautiful flower stands, too. Other parts of the market are handicrafts and gifts. 
• We visited and hiked at Olympic National Park. We did multiple hikes there on two separate days, one of which was a trail called Hurricane Ridge. That was our most intense hike. Over the course of an hour and a half and 3.8 miles, I gained 816 feet in elevation. It was a challenging hike for sure. Several members of our overall group didn't ultimately go all the way up to the end because they were feeling light-headed from the exertion and all that. The view from the top was pretty sick but you really didn't need to go all the way up to experience the beauty of the view, you could get it from about 2/3 of the way up. During that hike was the only time that I got sun burned at all.
• We visited Forks, Washington, and took photos in front of the "Welcome to Forks" city sign. Forks is the setting for the Twilight books. Forks in real life is not at all worth visiting. It is so boring and dreary, very little to it. 

Rialto Beach

View from a scenic overlook somewhere along the way

View from Hurricane Ridge trail in Olympic National Park

After we got back from our trip late on a Friday night, I had to get back down to Milwaukee from Rice Lake on Saturday so that I could be ready for my first day of work on Monday. I started my first day of my clerkship at the federal courthouse downtown on Monday August 15th. I've now been there nearly a month! I think it's going well and that I transitioned pretty well into it. Currently, I am prepping some things for a jury trial. It may end up being the case, however, that I prep and draft things just to have the case settle last minute. That's often how it goes. I'm hoping if I go through the effort of doing the work, that the trial will at least go through so I can spend a day or two of work sitting in on it, observing. It's really interesting to sit in on hearings at the court. It's a nice way to take a break from the rest of the day's drafting, reading, and researching. It's also really helpful for me as being new to the federal judiciary to sit in on hearings to see how the proceedings usually go. It's interesting to see lawyers in active practice. So far I've pretty much only sat in on criminal sentencing hearings, where usually the defense speaks on behalf of their client and the prosecution speaks on behalf of the government. But soon I will get to sit in on (and take minutes for) a final pretrial conference for the case I mentioned previously.

I'm really content with my job so far. I'm finally getting compensated for work I've been doing for years, whether at school or during unpaid internships, etc. I get to chill in my little office space, manage my time as I see fit (within reason, bearing in mind there are some things that take priority over others), keep my case list organized and updated, answer phones for the court and communicate with attorneys, and draft tons of orders on various kinds of motions. This is the same kind of writing work I did during my 1L summer as an intern for the U.S. District Court for the District of Minnesota. Now, I'm referencing a different appellate circuit for authority, but the gist of the work is the same. 

I have one paycheck under my belt and am eagerly anticipating my next, to come this Friday. Money is really tight right now since I have lived in my new apartment in Milwaukee since graduation in May while I studied for my bar exam. During that time, I had no income whatsoever. So any money I had has been depleted from rent and living costs from the summer. Now it is time to get strict with my income and start putting money towards my loans. 

In addition to having started work, I went camping for the weekend with my dear friends Anna and Phil, with whom I attended UW-River Falls. We camped at Kettle Moraine National Forest. We had the site for Friday and Saturday night but ultimately only ended up camping Saturday night. This was because they were coming to the area all the way from the Twin Cities, so they weren't able to get in after work until like 9:30. So they just came to my apartment and we had a little sleepover here, heading out early the next morning to get to the campground. We did some hiking, ate a ton of snacks, cooked impossible burgers over the fire, played games and gabbed in Phil's tent while it drizzled for an hour and a half, and chilled by the fire into the evening. It was an awesome time, I always love being able to get together with them. Anna is engaged now, so I am looking forward to her wedding next year! We are hoping to turn our camping into an annual thing, probably trying to hit a new state park/state forest each year.

We had an awesome time despite the slight bit of rain during the day. Only other snaffu was that during our second hike of the day, one in the afternoon, we somehow managed to take the wrong fork in the path and ended up walking two whole miles down the path before discovering that we had messed up. We had set out to do this loop which would conclude in an overlook tower. We were barely into the loop when we came upon the fork and somehow misunderstood and went the wrong way. This resulted in our going two whole miles off of the loop trail. We instead apparently went two miles down the Ice Age trail, which we did not realize until the path stopped to cross a road and we saw on a map sign that we had erred. We were pretty tired and dismayed to realize we were going to turn what we intended to be a 3.75 mile hike into about a 5.75 mile hike. But we had to turn around and backtrack the two miles. We just went back to our car at that point, not having it in us to complete the actual loop we had intended to do.

Boggle action during a rainy spell

Afternoon hike in which we went the wrong way

I left the campground early Sunday morning because it was Jacob's last race of the season and I didn't want to miss it. I drove south back through Milwaukee, stopping at the apartment to shower (glad I had enough time), then went further south to Lake Geneva. Jacob's race was at some like ski hills there. I got to watch with his parents and a friend and coworker of Jacob's. 

Since then, a friend of Jacob's has actually lent us a mountain bike because I have been wanting to give it a try since before I even met Jacob, but my bike is too shitty ($150 craigslist bike has run its course--it had probably already run its course by the time I got it). I was thrilled when his friend offered to let us borrow a bike. It's a Giant, nothing terribly new, but compared to what I'm used to it is an absolute dream. Jacob and I have taken it out on two rides, so far. We went up to Rice Lake for labor day weekend, and during that weekend we took the bikes for a ride at Pipestone Quarry at the Blue Hills. It was probably a bit challenging/technical for my first ever mountain bike ride. The paths were so, so rocky--there was barely a stretch of three or four feet without rocks jutting out. Despite that, I think I did pretty alright. Our second ride was at Minooka Park here in the Milwaukee area. That trail is a loop of about 5.15 miles and it took me 53 minutes, with Jacob patiently keeping my pace. We had to pull over a couple times to let folks pass and everyone was super nice. I felt like I had to go pretty slow, really using my brakes, because there were a lot of pretty tight bends and narrow spots. But again, I felt like I did a pretty decent job considering my inexperience. It's great exercise and pretty thrilling, but definitely a bit scary at times because I had moments where I realized how fast I was going and how fucked I would be if I clipped my handlebar on a tree or something like that. During these two first rides, I had a few "wipeouts" but nothing serious, moreso just kind of tipping over a bit or having to bail. It's something I want to continue to improve at. I am hoping to invest in a new bike within the next couple of weeks so that I can get some use out of it with Jacob before it gets too cold.

Summer is coming to a close. Yesterday, Sunday, it was a heavily rainy day all day. It was very brisk out yesterday and today as a result, around 50/60 degrees. I didn't get to enjoy my warm summer months as much as I would have in other years because of my bar exam. But the fall months will bring new experiences here in Milwaukee, and soon I'll have my first winter in Milwaukee.

8/2/2022

 That's right folks, it's another batch of books. Dig in.

• Circe - Madeline Miller

This was recommended to me by a classmate, and I am really glad it came to my attention because it was fantastic. The author's writing is so poetic and elegant. This author also wrote Song of Achilles, which I read later on and will include in this post. The formality and certainty in the language used takes you back to another era. Every word--whether just descriptive by the author or as a piece of dialogue of a character--is so intentional. No word feels unnecessary. I loved this book and found it so wise and poignant. Highly recommend. I rated this book 10/10.

• The Silent Patient - Alex Michaelides  
  

I rated this book 7.5/10. If I were to re-rate it, I might drop that to 6.5 or 6 to be honest. This was a mystery, and I tend to be pretty critical of mysteries. It might be one of my least favorite genres lol. There are some mystery/thriller books that are really well done, but I feel like a lot of the genre is kind of typical, kind of pandering at superficial suspense. 

I thought this was decent--it didn't really wow me, but it also didn't like abjectly disappoint me. There was, as most mysteries tend to include, a twist towards the end which I had not seen coming, so I guess that says something. Perhaps I didn't see it coming because it didn't make, like, complete sense and seemed a bit odd. Lol. But anyways, it was alright. I wouldn't recommend that someone go out of their way to read it, though.

• The Body Keeps the Score - Bessel Van Der Kolk  
  

This book was a big disappointment, and I rated it 4.5/10. I had seen acquaintances and colleagues recommend it and speak highly of it, so I was surprised that I did not enjoy it really at all. I did not find it particularly worthwhile. It was a bit difficult for me to get through, and I found it horribly, horribly repetitive. That was one of my biggest complaints. So many of the same points and concepts were repeated over and over again in only slightly different words, to the point where I was actually fully conscious of that and was getting annoyed by it because it was contributing so unnecessarily to the book's length. It was like a mediocre college student's paper that had a length requirement but not enough new substance, so the student just kind of kept rephrasing the same sorts of things. I just kept waiting for it to end, waiting and waiting and waiting for it to end, because I felt like I had already read too much to give it up. 

• The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down -Anne Fadiman 
  

 This was a really intriguing piece of non-fiction. It was about Hmong history, culture, and immigration generally, but also focused specifically on a Hmong family in California. It was set back several decades ago, and followed the life of the family's daughter who was epileptic. The family believed her seizing had to do with spirits, and they wanted to primarily address it with their religious remedies. She was, of course, subject to medical intervention on various occasions and the doctors were oftentimes very frustrated by what they perceived as a lack of commitment by the parents to the medical treatment of the child. There were issues with the parents not following prescription specifications & not medicating the daughter appropriately, but it was very complicated because the parents were illiterate--they could not speak English, nor could they read or write Hmong or any other language.

I had known essentially nothing about Hmong culture and history, and granted I still know very little, but at least now I know from this book that the Hmong aided the United States in the Vietnam War but were then essentially hung out to dry by the United States afterwards. The United States essentially left them there to face discrimination and violence. In Thailand and in Laos, the Hmong population was persecuted, and it is for that reason that there is a large Hmong population in the United States. 

An interesting tidbit, not really related to the main substance of the book but rather just mentioned by the author in passing, was a situation that occurred in the early 2000s in Northern Wisconsin when a Hmong hunter shot and killed several white hunters out in the woods. My ears poked up when I read that because it struck instant familiarity for me. That happened not far from where I am from, and I remember that I was in second grade when it happened. Being reminded of this event made me really curious to learn more about what went on there. I am curious to know if there were interactions between the hunters and this Hmong man and if something triggered the shootings. My mom told me there was a book written about it called the Tree Stand Murders, and she requested it from the library for me.

I rated this book 8.5/10. I thought it was a good combination of general historical information plus the more personal stories of this specific Hmong family and those they interacted with in the United States.

• A Little Life - Hanya Yanaghira 
  

This book was soooo long. Towards the end, I was kind of wondering when it was gonna wrap up. It wasn't that I didn't enjoy it--I did enjoy it, and thought it was well-written--but it was just so long. Misery followed by misery followed by misery. A long series of tragedies. 

There is so much to say about this book. First of all, it is one of the most trigger-heavy books I have ever read. Possibly the most trigger-heavy book I've read. Basically, every possible trauma you could conceive of not only was present in this book, but was inflicted upon the same single character. It was almost so much, so constantly, that it was borderline unbelievable. A TikTok video about this book popped up for me last week, the one of the comments said that the amount of trauma in this book was "gratuitous," which I thought was a really good way of describing it. It was just almost inconceivable the amount of tragedy and trauma dumped on this single character, over and over and over. There is also apparently some controversy because, apparently (although I've not read any of her other books yet), queer trauma and pedophilia are consistent themes in multiple of her books. I find that kind of...strange. There was definitely a huge focus in this book on pedophilia and sexual trauma, among other traumas. I think I will try to read at least one of her other novels.

All that said, the book was written very well. I found it very eloquent and poignant, despite the heaviness and darkness of the subject matter. I rated it 8.5/10.

• The Song of Achilles - Madeline Miller 
  

This book had popped up on my TikTok so many times in the past. People raved about it and were also pretty consistently emotionally devastated by it. I think that books that have the capacity to break your heart like that are some of the best books in existence. I find them the most impressive, because it is just incredible to me that an author's words can reach you so genuinely and intimately that you become so emotionally invested in the characters and their lives. To find yourself getting choked up, your throat tightening and your eyes welling up, because of the way someone has told a story, is just such a remarkable feat. I admire most of all authors like Madeline Miller who can tell a story in a way that teaches you something about life and about your relationships, and that forces you to feel things whether you want to feel them or not.

Madeline Miller also wrote Circe, which I reviewed above. Both novels are written in that similar antiquated sort of language of another time, which I loved. The precision of the language used is impressive in and of itself, with each word serving an integral part in its sentence. I thought both Circe and The Song of Achilles were fantastic, although to be honest, I had an inkling that I slightly preferred Circe for most of my reading of the Song of Achilles. The last bit of The Song of Achilles, though, really made it difficult to say which was better. The culmination of The Song of Achilles was indeed heartwrenching, but there were also heartwrenching moments throughout Circe, too, whereas for The Song of Achilles it predominated at the end of the novel. 

There were so many touching quotes throughout the book that I did not save to include in my Instagram story review of this book because I did not want to spoil anything for those who had managed to remain oblivious as to the plot of this book so far. But a few of the quotes that I do recall (and which my sister-in-law shared with me as well, as her favorites from reading this book) include:

"He is half of my soul, as the poets say."

"And perhaps it is the greater grief, after all, to be left on earth when another is gone."

"When I am dead, I charge you to mingle our ashes and bury us together."

"[N]ations were the most foolish of mortal inventions. 'No man is worth more than another, wherever he is from.'"

Clearly, I would highly recommend this book, and I rated it 10/10. Absolutely beautiful.

• Under the Banner of Heaven - Jon Krakauer

I really enjoyed Into Thin Air by Jon Krakauer. Under the Banner of Heaven didn't hit quite as well for me, but it was still worth reading I'd say, especially for those with a particular interest in history. It was about the history of Mormonism and Mormon fundamentalism, the practice of polygamy, and the religiously-motivated murder of a mother and her infant in Utah. I saw recently that Hulu has a limited series that just came out titled Under the Banner of Heaven and presumably based on this story, so I will probably watch that soon.

I ultimately rated this book 6/10. It was a bit history-heavy & detail-heavy for me. There were so many people referenced on and off throughout the book--historical figures and actors in Mormonism--that I had a hard time keeping track of which narrow-minded man was which, which dude married his fucking stepdaughter (plus like 15 other women), which polygamist came before this one, etc. Nevertheless, it was interesting learning about the formation of Mormonism and how the Mormons essentially established the state of Utah (except for, you know, the fact that there were already Native peoples there) and created their own towns in different states each time a state kicked them out. A good portion of the book focused on Mormon fundamentalism, rather than like moderate Mormonism, so I still don't know that much about the more modern-day, watered-down practice of Mormonism. I understand that there is a tremendous amount of proselytizing, going around to other states and other countries attempting to convert folks, which I don't have a tremendous amount of respect for, personally. 

It was interesting reading a little about the Book of Mormon, the religion's fundamental text, and how there are references in the Book of Mormon that simply do not make sense based on the time period professed to be described therein. There are references to animals and pieces of basic "technology" that did not exist in the settings claimed in the book.

The murder discussed in the book was committed by a pair of brothers who were Mormon fundamentalists, having been inspired to commit the murders by the messages they claimed to have been receiving from God. 

• Tender is the Flesh - Agustina Bazterrica

I rated this book 6.5/10. It was a fairly horrifying, grotesque subject, but it was also admittedly extremely thought-provoking as someone who recognizes speciesism and is an advocate of animal rights. In this book, the setting is a future society where non-human animals have been almost entirely eradicated in order to extinguish a virus or something that they carried. In order to replace the meat that they had traditionally provided, the society begins breeding and raising genetically modified humans for meat. The main character of the book works in a processing plant/slaughterhouse of such human meat and is entirely complicit in the system despite having this personal indignation about it. He comes across as very hypocritical, very self-righteous, constantly judging those who partake in the consumption of human meat while not only doing the same himself but also being a part of the system that produces it.

There were a lot of interesting different aspects to the story. There was a religious group that the government allowed to sacrifice one of their own at the slaughterhouse--the individual of the religious group would "voluntarily" be killed and processed for meat at the slaughterhouse. There were "scavengers", a group of apparently homeless/wandering, violent and restless outcasts who came regularly to the slaughterhouse to get whatever low-quality scraps they could. There was hunting of humans for sport by the richest of the society. 

• The Kissing Bug - Daisy Hernandez

I rated this one 7/10. This was part memoir/part non-fiction about the kissing bug and the virus it has the capacity of carrying and transmitting to humans through its bite. The kissing bug disease can be transmitted from the kissing bug to a human, and oftentimes it lays dormant in a person for decades without causing any issues. It can, however, over time attack a person's heart, essentially deteriorating it to the point of requiring heart transplants. The kissing bug disease is not common in the United States, but it does affect some. It is more common in several South American countries. 

• Where the Crawdads Sing - Delia Owens

This apparently is a quite popular book after having been selected by Reese Witherspoon for her book club. I really enjoyed reading it, actually. I rated it 8.5/10. This book is predominantly a mystery, and I tend to not really love mysteries because I often find them really cliche and pandering to the genre, as I mentioned earlier in this post. I didn't feel that way with this book, though. And the movie version of this book is out in theaters right now, so I might have to go watch it.

I thought the descriptions of the setting of the marsh were really interesting and beautiful. It's also always interesting, as a law school graduate and, god-willing, future lawyer, to read the depictions of courtroom scenes. There is a criminal trial that occurs in this book, and the story takes us through the direct and cross-examinations of witnesses, of defense counsel expertly impeaching the witnesses for the prosecution. I would recommend this one.

That's all of them for now, folks. But, as always, I continue reading about a book a week (somewhat less so recently what with my bar examination) so I will be posting another set of books in no time. 

7/31/2022

 What have I been watching?: The Dropout (limited series on Hulu)

What have I been listening to?: New Emotion - The Aces

Yes, it has been a terribly long time since I've posted. But I have about the most compelling excuse I've ever had. The bar exam has been controlling my life in great part for the last two and a half months, and it is finally over.

For the entirety of my time in Milwaukee, I have had the impending doom of the bar exam looming over my shoulder. I began studying for it in May and recently took the exam in Chicago on the 26th and 27th. By the end there, I was fairly sick over it. One of the most shocking things about studying for the bar exam was the fact that even after three years of intensive legal education, plus over two months' worth of intensive bar preparation, I was still encountering in practice problems legal concepts and terms that I have never heard before in my life. I had originally thought that since I tried so hard in law school and took most of the bar-tested courses that bar prep would be mostly review. A good part of it was, indeed, review, but even for classes that I had already taken, there were concepts in bar prep that I hadn't encountered in the class. There simply isn't enough time in law school to learn everything that could possibly come up on the bar exam.

I don't know how much depth I want to get into re: the exam since I'm not sure how much I want to relive the experience. But I definitely did not have even a basic understanding of the commitment and expense associated with not only law school but also all of the other steps required to becoming a lawyer, including the bar exam. So maybe my discussing this will enlighten folks a bit.

I estimate that, overall, taking the bar exam cost me around $5,000, not to mention hundreds of hours of studying. My enrollment in the exam itself cost $1450. Usually, that would have been less, but I ended up enrolling in Illinois's bar exam during their "very late" period after having to switch from D.C. kind of last minute, so the price had gone up quite a bit (usually around $1000). My bar prep course (not a requisite, but highly recommended and statistically proven to significantly increase odds of passing) was $1500. This was not even the top, most established course. And that $1500 price is the lowest price they had--it was their discounted "public interest" version for folks essentially not working in firm jobs. If you work for a large firm, usually part of your compensation includes receiving a stipend for the summer as well as reimbursement for the entirety of your bar prep course.

I had to pay for two nights at a basic hotel in downtown Chicago, which cost me about $460. Then of course I used up about a half or three quarters of a tank of gas going to and from Chicago, so we'll call that $30. I had to pay somewhere around $150 for the software download on my own laptop to use for the exam. I had to pay for parking on a few occasions during my stay in Chicago, mostly for overnight next door to the hotel, for a total of around $35. And there were some costs for my additional study materials--loose leaf paper, highlighters, pens, etcetera--maybe around $15. 

The largest cost, however, was likely not a financial one but rather the mental one. Taking this exam seriously and treating this endeavor as a full-time job really weighs on you. The pressure is high. You're aware of the fact that even after your three years of expensive education, you still won't actually be able to be a lawyer if you can't finish this last hurdle. In hindsight, no rational person would put themselves through that risk. 

The bar exam took place on Tuesday and Wednesday of last week. I drove to Chicago Monday late afternoon to settle into my hotel and study for a couple hours more that evening. I have a moderate to severe anxiety disorder, and when I take tests or do other high-pressure things, sometimes parts of my body go kind of numb/tingly. Particularly this happens in my hands and occasionally my face. It feels like intense buzzing/static in my hands. Unfortunately, it was the worst I have ever experienced it on Day 1 of the exam. It made it kind of difficult to type. I have never before had it affect me so badly. Usually, I am a very fast typist but it definitely slowed me down because my hands were kind of clenched up. I remember looking down at them at one point and they were barely recognizable, rigid and inflexible. All I could do was keep breathing and do what I could to continue. 

Despite that setback, I feel pretty alright about how it went. The second day, I knew, would be less intense for me. The second day was 6 hours worth of multiple choice, while the first day was 6 hours worth of essays. Typing intensely for 3 hours straight and then another 3 hours straight is really taxing on the body. My hands and fingers physically hurt by the end of it, no doubt aggravated by the fact that my anxiety had rendered them almost immobile. 

Despite knowing that the second day would be a little easier for me, I still woke up and felt like throwing up that morning. I did not throw up, however, and got through the exam. I actually made friends with the girl I sat next to on both days. She had gone to school in D.C. and had a firm job set up in Chicago. We seemed similar in terms of preparedness, organization, and nervousness. I told her that there were way more people testing than I'd realized there'd be (probably over 500 people in my examination room) and she said there was actually a whole other examination site elsewhere, for people with last names beginning with the first half of the alphabet. I think more people sit for the Illinois bar than maybe any other state. It's definitely up there in terms of numbers. It was super unfortunate because during our brief half-hour lunch break, there were literally hundreds of women lined up to use the restrooms. We had to eat our lunch while waiting in line.

I was so relieved when it was over. Even by the beginning of the second day, I could see the light at the end of the tunnel. I knew that all I could do was my best and that it was just something to get through. I got in my car and drove immediately straight back to Milwaukee after it was over. I did not feel celebratory at all, but rather just fatigued and done in. It's like I felt after completing a week of exams for finals in law school. Getting to the end just feels like a matter of survival. I know this all sounds dramatic, but it truly is such a heavy burden to carry around for months. Maybe I will feel celebratory after a few more days of recovery.

Results will not be available until October. I am in a very privileged position because my clerkship is not contingent on my passing a bar exam. But of course, if I want to work as a lawyer after my two-year clerkship, I will need to have passed a bar. For some folks who have jobs set up (which they will likely already begin before receiving results in October), their continued employment is contingent on them passing. They could have gotten through a week, two weeks, three weeks of work just to discover they did not pass and be promptly let go. It is truly a horrifying system that I have subjected myself to. Imagine having signed a lease, after having moved to a city where you have no other support, just to discover a month in that you have lost your job because you fell short on the bar exam. 

I was so relieved to step back into my apartment finally after several days away. And to know that for the next several weeks, I am free to do truly whatever I please at whatever hour I please is so amazing. I haven't been able to say that for a long time. Over the past three years of law school I have had breaks of no longer than a week, really, and even then there were oftentimes other extraneous school-related responsibilities infringing on those breaks. But now I am sitting on my patio chair on my balcony on my new apartment in Walker's Point, and I am up earlier than usual just because I figured I'd enjoy the morning hours relaxing, and I can hear birds chirping and there is a light breeze. The tower on the Rockwell Automation building near to my building says it is 74 degrees at the moment. I love it here and have been so happy to have this space for myself. I feel very lucky. Just yesterday I brought my yoga mat out here onto the balcony and did a practice out in the open air. It was awesome and refreshing.

Now, I'll back up a bit and try to cover some things that I did over the last month or so in between my studying. I've begun seeing a gentleman here in Milwaukee whom I met on a dating app. We went on a first date end of May, not long after I arrived here, and have been seeing each other since then. He is a competitive mountain biker and so I've gone to see a few bike races. 

Wisconsin Off Road Series 

My own bike is in pretty rough shape at this point. It's not actually rideable right now--both tires are flat and probably need new tubes. The chain is also crazy, crazy rusted. Jacob (the gentleman) and my mother both think probably I shouldn't put any more money into it and should just save up to get a better bike. This was just a $120 Craigslist bike. I would like to invest in a new, better bike, but I obviously have not had a proper income for years, and won't have even a single paycheck till October. Getting a new bike will have to wait at least several months--realistically, probably till the Spring.

I also did a camping overnight earlier this month. I was supposed to go with my friends Anna and Phil but Anna unfortunately got covid so things understandably kind of fell apart. I still had the reservation, though, so I went by myself because I'd been curious to try to do a solo bit of camping anyways. I was very proud of myself because I did everything by myself. Set up my tent, gathered all my wood (I didn't actually purchase any firewood, just collected dead wood from around the area) to have enough of a fire to cook my dinner, etc. I enjoyed reading an ebook on my iPad in the evening once it got dark and I'd settled into my sleeping bag in my tent. I only lost confidence in my outdooring skills the next day when I went to take down the tent and discovered it had at least 7 spiders on it. I seriously considered just leaving it there.

Was very proud of the impossible burger I cooked over the fire

I had the campsite for two nights but only ended up doing one. I left the next morning and ended up hanging out with my brother instead. He was going to join me camping that second day & night but it was forecasted to be a rainy day & night so we figured it wasn't worth us being out there just to be cooped up in the tent or car. We ended up just hanging out in Milwaukee instead.

Also have played a few days' worth of tennis. Last summer I played so much tennis with folks from school. Myself and a couple people actually had kind of unintentionally created this little tennis club for the summer. It grew a bit too much for comfort, actually, lol. On some days, there were just too many people for it to be manageable. Here in Milwaukee, now, I have played with my brother and sister-in-law once or twice, but also with Jacob a few times. Jacob hasn't historically played much tennis but he has enjoyed it well enough to have invested in a pair of rackets of his own.

Made pita pizzas with Jacob

My darling brother and I at a wedding in July

During the beginning of July, I went home for several days. My brother and sister-in-law's birthdays were around that time, and there was also a family wedding to attend. I somehow drove the 4.5 hours up to Rice Lake from Milwaukee having kind of forgotten about the wedding part, so I had to go to Goodwill and get a dress (see navy checkered dress above) and borrowed heels from my sister. It was a good time seeing relatives and all that. Of course, I also love getting to see and play with my little corgi nephew, Finn. My siblings and I, plus Daniel and Finn, all played a bit of volleyball in the field near the house. It was kind of more like keep-away from Finn, who would sink his teeth into the volleyball anytime he got near it. It was so funny, he was absolutely exhausted from chasing it back and forth. I've never seen him breathing so hard.

Atwater Beach in Shorewood area

I have had a couple beach days, although not nearly as many as I had last summer in Cleveland. Any time I had a free day in Cleveland, I would love to go lay out at Edgewater Beach. It was just so relaxing to listen to my music and soak up the sun. Not as many opportunities for spending some hours at the beach what with studying this summer, but have now visited both Bradford and Atwater beaches. Bradford seems to be the more popular location--it is much bigger, more of a party beach, with multiple tiki bars and like twenty volleyball courts. Atwater is a bit farther north, more secluded and smaller, but I think a little nicer. Atwater is more picturesque and serene. Tons of stairs to get down to the beach from the cliff above, though. Lake Michigan is just absolutely stunning. It was terribly freezing though, even just yesterday when I went there around noon.

Ikea afternoon yesterday with Jacob

Yesterday, Jacob and I had planned to go to Ikea for part of the day. We had lunch there (I've never eaten there before--it was adequate at best) and of course browsed around for several hours. Jacob was in the market for a floor lamp, and he got a cool industrial-looking one. I was not in the market for anything in particular but did end up getting some clothes hangers and this little shelving unit which I plan to put in one of my tall entryway cabinets for additional storage. I think I will put cleaning and laundry supplies on it. The shelving unit was white and I decided I wanted to try to paint it, so Jacob and I went to Lowes and got two cans of green spray paint. We then set about painting the shelving unit in Jacob's driveway (well, Jacob mostly did the painting and I did some filming for a TikTok about the project). I think it's going to look great and was a fun thing for us to do together. I was surprised by how much spray paint it took, though (we used both cans), resulting in me spending as much on the paint as I did on the unit itself.

Frozen yogurt in Wauwatosa

And I can't remember if I've uploaded the above picture already or not, but that's a look at my living room area in my apartment. I've got my futon from my previous apartment for now (it suffices) and a lovely TV stand from Target. Jacob actually helped me assemble the TV stand on our first date after we had dinner at an Italian restaurant lol. He works in tool design so I figured he would have some handyman skills I might as well put to use. I've got my law school class photo framed and hung on the wall to the left there, along with a photo of my siblings and I, and I recently got my updated diploma with my honors designation in the mail, so I'll need to get that framed as well. I also got a certificate for my Order of the Coif honor and I think I'll frame and hang that, too.

I've got a few more days to myself here in Milwaukee, and then my family is actually going on a vacation together to Washington state. Except for my brother and sister-in-law, who visited there for their honeymoon, the rest of us have never been. I know we'll plan to spend some time in Seattle and do some out-of-the-city hiking and exploring. 

Despite the everyday studying over the last several months, I have still managed to enjoy myself as well, as you can see. I tracked all of my study time by starting and stopping a timer on my phone when I studied during the day. I would turn it off during meals and breaks so I could really track only my active study time. I would take breaks during the day sometimes to go bike on the stationary bike down in the gym and have a midday shower, which helped refresh things. 

I wasn't able to do quite as much for myself this summer as some previous summers, but I still had some fun and have enjoyed being able to see Jacob, my friend and old coworker Jack, and my family on occasion. 

I am being sworn into the court on August 3 and start my clerkship the 15th. I'm really looking forward to beginning work because I think I'll be able to transition into it pretty well. During my time off before then, I will probably want to go do a bit of shopping to find a few more pieces of work clothing. I could use another suit or two and some more formal clothes in general. 

Another post will follow, I'm sure, describing my family's trip and the rest of the summer's happenings.

6/2/2022

Time for me to attempt to recall my most recent happenings here in Milwaukee.

Last Friday, I took part of the day to go downtown to the federal courthouse to sit in on one of my Judge's sentencings. This was my first time seeing my Judge on the bench! I had been curious to see what his demeanor would be like. As strange as it sounds, I think this might have been my first ever court proceeding that I ever properly witnessed from the gallery--before, I had only ever listened to court proceedings via like a live recording. This was a very unique sentencing because it was for a white collar crime and also because the defendant had several character witnesses. It was open to the public, and there were actually a number of other folks in the gallery, including apparently a reporter from a Milwaukee paper.

I was glad to have the opportunity to go to the courthouse again because it was actually only my second time ever being there, the first time being the day of my interview. I had not seen my Judge since that day, so I think he was glad for me to stop by and chat with everyone in chambers and show some initiative to see how he runs his courtroom. I got to sit with two of the clerks as well and chat with them after the proceeding.

Since then, I have of course been trying to continue with my bar prep as well as taking time each day to hopefully go out and explore at least a little bit. On a lovely evening walk the other day, I passed by an ice cream shop called the Purple Door and spontaneously got a cone. The area around me feels very walkable and is a good way to see different shops and restaurants in the area. I have also really been enjoying using the gym at my new apartment building. Many of the building's common areas are still a work in progress, including the gym. So right now there are two treadmills, two stationary bikes, a rowing machine, some kind of ladder type cardio machine I've never seen before, and a bunch of free weights that are currently just sitting on the floor because I assume the weight rack for them has not come in yet or something. I'm super pleased that I've been able to do a couple jogs/runs the last few days. I've been trying to adjust my gait and shorten my stride to see if it is more comfortable for my knees, and I think it's working? trying to really also engage my leg muscles with each step. I don't want to get too ahead of myself though by thinking I'm in the clear now. I actually ran one of my fastest 5ks the other day and was so giddy. But I haven't done a proper run outside here yet, and I'm curious to see how that would feel. 

This coming weekend, I think I will go to Madison to see Tim and Taylor on Saturday. It won't be quite nice enough for a beach day, so I think we'll pot some little plants for me and probably go out to eat. They are only about 1 hr 20 min away from me now (compared to about 8 hours away from me when I was in Cleveland).

Not much of an update, but more to come another day.

5/23/22

 What have I been watching?: The Kardashians

I have been in Milwaukee for one week, and I am loving it. There is so much activity here, so much good energy, so many beautiful parks and outdoor spots, so many bustling bars, breweries, restaurants, etc. 

On the 17th, I moved into my apartment with the assistance of my family. The building is brand new with tenants starting leases only as of May 1, so there are not very many residents yet. I have a one-bedroom apartment with a gorgeous, large balcony overlooking Walker's Point. I am close enough to the highway to see the cars speeding past a block or two away out my windows, which makes getting on the road to go to other parts of Milwaukee super easy. 

Bathroom pre-unpacking

Living room area with view of balcony

Living area plus partial view of kitchen

Although I've barely even lived in Milwaukee yet, I have already had the chance to get out and see friends and check out some spots. 

On Friday night, I believe it was, I had the wonderful pleasure of joining one of my future co-clerks and some of Judge's former clerks for drinks. I was in contact with my future co-clerk and she had let me know they were going to be going out to celebrate one of the current clerk's last day. I was so honored to be invited and knew I definitely had to take advantage of the offer and go out! I met them at the Juneau Park Traveling Beer Garden, where my future co-clerk treated me to a lovely root beer lol. It was raining on and off that day, and the seating there is outdoors, so eventually we relocated to another place. We ended up at the Knickerbocker, which I thought was so incredibly funny because when I had informed my old Contracts professor months ago that I had gotten a job in Milwaukee (she went to law school at UW Madison), she told me I had to check out the Knickerbocker. So I thought it was cool that one of the first places I ended up visiting in Milwaukee was the place she had mentioned. Cool coincidence. 

Also present that evening was another Judge's clerk and, like I mentioned, some of my Judge's former clerks. I recognized and remembered a few of the former clerks from when I had interviewed last summer. Everyone was so amazingly kind, welcoming, and open. We chatted and laughed sooo much. They toasted to my recent graduation and shared lots of intel and funny stories with me. I felt so, so grateful to be included and to be having such fun with these folks within only a few days of me getting to Milwaukee. The next morning when I woke up, I seriously wondered if I had dreamt it all because it was so fun and hilarious. We all exchanged numbers, and I hope we can hang out again before the current clerks (and recently former clerks) leave town.

This most recent weekend, my brother Tim and my sister-in-law Taylor came over from Madison and spent Saturday afternoon and evening with me. Then they spent the night and we explored Sunday morning as well. On Saturday, we went to a plant shop I had discovered on Instagram called Maranta. Tim and Taylor are plant crazy. They have dozens and dozens of plants in their apartment in Madison, and next time I visit there, they said I can take a few home with me.

I didn't have any plants to bring with me from Cleveland due to a tragic series of events culminating in me "burning" all of my plants with fertilizer spikes (rip). It was for the best probably because transporting them all would have been very cumbersome. I picked out two larger plants at Maranta because I wanted a few bigger plants rather than a bunch of little plants scattered around. I would have bought even bigger ones, but we wouldn't have been able to transport them in my car. At the apartment, Tim helped me repot one of them into my largest pot. However, that pot may be cursed because I had a ficus in that pot at one point, which I had christened Mother Fiker. Mother Fiker perished slowly over a long period of months.

We then had pizza at a place nearby called Fixture Pizza Pub. It was within walking distance and gave me a good chance to look around at the other shops and restaurants on the nearby streets. We liked the place, although I tried artichoke on pizza for the first time, and I don't think I would do so again. 

The next morning, we checked out the Mitchell Park Domes. The Domes house Milwaukee's botanical gardens. It was absolutely gorgeous and a super cool visit. The tropical-themed Dome was soooo hot and humid that we were all sweating.

Then Tim and Taylor headed back to Madison because I had to get back to my bar prep. Bar prep is going pretty fine so far. It is hard to tell sometimes if I am on track or not. My first batch of subject matter has been Contracts and Sales. I did not take Sales, but I did have a very rigorous and comprehensive Contracts class which seems to have covered almost everything I need to know for the bar. I have also had to do some Family Law, which I also did not take in law school. I don't care much for Family Law as a subject matter, to be honest.

Then on Sunday night, I had plans to see an old coworker of mine from Culver's! I have worked at multiple Culver's in the past, and one of my former coworkers had relocated to Milwaukee some time ago. So we knew we had to meet up once I got to town. We met for dinner and then watched a Kardashians episode at my apartment. It was soooo good to see him and catch up. I think we will plan to hang out again. I suggested we hit the beach once it gets hotter, and I also want us to take a trip one of these weekends to the nearest Ikea. 

I am feeling seriously so grateful for the wonderful days I have had in Milwaukee so far. To already have had such welcoming, friendly experiences with people here seriously makes my heart swell. I am feeling comfortable in my new apartment, and feeling positive with my nice view, the good light, the bright walls, etc. I do need a few more things for my apartment, though. I just have my futon in my living area, so I am looking for an armchair or similar to add some more seating. There also isn't overhead lighting in the living area or my bedroom, so I've ordered a floor lamp for here in the living area. I was considering getting a desk for bar prep, but I am on the fence about it. I have been studying on my futon, on the treadmill in the apartment gym, on my balcony, and while sitting at my kitchen cart table thing. Also this morning I spent about four hours studying at a coffee shop nearby. So while I would likely use a desk to some extent, I definitely don't need one. I also still need a TV stand, and my TV is currently just sitting on the floor. A bookshelf or some other kind of storage would also be good as currently I don't have anywhere to put my books and to display my various knickknacks, photos, awards, etc. 

Oh also today after my studying, I swung by the UW Milwaukee Police Department because my friend told me that they give away free steering wheel locks for Hyundai and Kia owners. Why, you ask? Because apparently they are the easiest vehicles to steal! I had no idea. They are disproportionately among the most frequently stolen vehicles in the city. I am, as you have probably deduced, an owner of one such vehicle. So I took advantage of the free steering wheel lock, although I do not yet know how to use it.

On my way to the UW Milwaukee campus, I got to like drive this route along the lake. It was sooooo gorgeous and I'd had no idea!!! The beach is like...fucking pristine. I saw Bradford Beach, and it had a Tiki Bar and a bunch of volleyball courts. The beach was so well-groomed and had such beautiful sand. And I had thought Edgewater was a decent great lakes beach! I can't wait till it gets hot enough to go to Bradford Beach. The scenery was just generally so beautiful along there, and there were these huge gorgeous mansion-like houses on the cliff opposite the lake. My jaw literally dropped while I was driving past.

Bye!