Forgive me for being sappy, but...

BY: KAITLIN IN AUSTRALIA

Let’s recap my Australian experience thus far:

I’m seeing things I didn’t think were possible. I’m pushing my body and my mind past every former exertion and inhibition. And as my program in Australia winds down, I’m finding it harder and harder to say goodbye to this place.

A mere two weeks remain until I’ve got to say my final adieu, and I’m determined to make the most of it. More and more, I’m learning I’ve got to make the smallest things holy. I’ve got to consecrate the small things that make up a whole life, the unsung moments that make life worth living and remembering:

Markets with rows upon rows of fresh, fresh fruit.

A tip of a hat from a genial and soft-spoken farmer.


A truly ridiculous amount of cookie dough, made and eaten.

A particularly transcendent sunrise.

A peaceful boat ride into the misty mangroves of Australia.

These last two photographs are from when we went camping in the Daintree, a sleepy place where the rain is constant and the air is thick with its warm humidity. It’s advertised as the place where the rainforest meets the Great Barrier Reef, and it is a place of misty, unreal beauty.

To see the thick greenery come right up against the sandy shores? There are some times when all I really want to do is give Mother Nature a hug and explain to her how totally awesome she is. (Happy Earth Day on this past Wednesday, girl!)

Upon our return to the field station, we’ve been inundated with exams and fieldwork. I’m doing directed research on vines, more specifically on how invasive species of vines might prove to be more drought-tolerant than endemic species. I’m an ecology nerd admittedly, so I’ll understand if none of you come clamoring to read my final paper.

Regardless, it’s been a lot of work in the last couple of days, and it will be a long stretch of work ahead of me. It’ll be easy to get caught in trivialities and stress, but if I’ve learned anything from this whole experience, I’ll remember the good things—the golden memories that reach out and hold me in a friend's embrace.

All my love,
Kaitlin

Next time: I'm finally going snorkeling in Australia's finest treasure, the Great Barrier Reef.