If you follow me on Instagram, you probably noticed that we took a sudden, six-day-long road trip across the country last week. Surprise… we’re back in Minnesota, permanently this time! I couldn’t tell you until now because of reasons related to Eric’s work, but everything’s finally ironed out. We’re currently at my mom’s house and moving into our new apartment this weekend.
Of course, everyone wants to know: why’d you move? We were only in California for about ten months. And I’ve had trouble finding words for exactly why. The reasons I’ve given so far include:
- It’s too crowded in the Bay Area; I needed room to breathe.
- It’s too polluted in the Bay Area; my lungs and sinuses needed a break.
- We’re too far away from family and don’t have many close friends out there.
- The cost of living is too darn high!
- We always knew we wanted to come back to Minnesota, anyways.
- I miss real winter.
- It costs too much to visit our home states.
- There are better job opportunities for me out here.
- Etc., etc.
All of these things are true and contributed to our decision to move back. However, for me personally, there was a bigger reason for wanting to come home. It’s hard to articulate but very relevant to this blog.
I love Minnesota. Before last year, I lived here for fifteen years and have never wanted to leave. Temporarily, to explore different countries and parts of the world? Maybe. But the Twin Cities is home.
I’ve felt that way since I finished Animal, Vegetable, Miracle seven years ago, because when I fell in love with the idea of eating locally, I fell in love with my landscape. The thick woods and hidden streams, the sparkling lakes and deer in the meadows. The bleakness of November and the lush summers, the icy January wind early in the morning and the hot, lazy June afternoons with the hum of cicadas through the open windows.
Years ago, I discovered in my mom’s cookbook collection a colorful cookbook called Savoring the Seasons of the Northern Heartland. It’s a collection of old seasonal Minnesotan and Wisconsinite recipes with bits and pieces of food history about the region. I’ve read it cover-to-cover several times, and Eric bought me my own copy for my last birthday.
I love it because the title describes what truly makes me feel fulfilled. To me, there is as much joy in readying the garden for winter as there is in planting it in the spring. As with life in general, some seasons are easier than others. But it’s the dramatically cyclic nature of Minnesotan years that gives each season and seasonal transition its meaning for me. Chilly fall days would not be nearly as exciting if not preceded by the dry heat of August. The first 40-degree day in March would not feel nearly as liberating if months of snow and ice didn’t come before it.
In California, I could drink all of the pumpkin spice lattes I wanted in the fall, wear all the cozy sweaters in the winter and eat all the fresh fruit in the summer, but I could never recreate the intense seasonal changes that had become so deeply ingrained in my life and in me.
I don’t write on this blog because I’m a guilty-feeling millennial who knows that my car and plastic shopping bags and disposable cups are killing the planet. Guilt is not a good motivator. I write out of love, because I love this place where I am. I want to protect it and enjoy it to the fullest.
I’m excited to be back.
xx Claire