After 6 or 7 years in Chicago now, Iâve learned to weather these winters the best way I can: accept defeat, embrace hibernation.  But now that I have a little more freedom, I can get the hell out when February/March drags on.  I had such great foresight to plan a trip to Costa Rica this year for a much needed defrosting, to unplug and shake off the apathy and frustration of this brutal winter.  I had a loose idea of what I expected the rainforest to be, but itâs nothing short of magical.  Iâve never been somewhere that was so lush, so overwhelmingly dense with flora and the sounds of the fauna around you - and when your flashlights are out, the darkest, most choking blackness glittering with the bioluminescence of fireflies.  It hardly felt like it happened, but I have some sketchbook field notes to prove it ( and a monkey bite!  [seriously] )
This past month has been very trying, and this trip to paradise couldnât have been more welcome. Â Between some health scares, some financial and personal hurdles and personal achievements, Iâm still trying to scrape everything together and get caught up from the weeks Iâve let my email slide. I apologize if Iâve let anyone hang, Iâm just a little overwhelmed and need to keep my work load to a manageable noise, even if my instinct is to do it all. Â Iâve got so many ideas, and to be kept from your work because your health betrays you is excruciating.
Getting away gave me some time to think about my my practice, the work I am doing, and the work I want to be doing and what that future holds for me. Â I think Iâve found my footing again to refocus, and you will be seeing the evidence of that here. Â Call it Spring Cleaning, or what have you, but Iâm pretty excited to get my hands dirty.
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