Home

The old adage is "home is where the heart is; sappy? Sure. Overused? Yep. True? No doubt.

I'll be heading back to the Bozone in a few days to help with my and attend my best friend's wedding; MOH walking here people, watch out. I should say I'm heading home. I may be 23, I may be weeks away from declaring Utah state residency, but Bozeman will always be where my heart is. It' where some of my best friends are, where my parents and pets are, where I went to high school (nightmarish as it was) and college (Bobcat for life), where I fell in love with skiing, where I learned to horseback ride. . . You get the idea. SLC is great, don't get me wrong, but something about the 406 speaks to my soul more than any other place can.

I'd guess it's because this is the first place I lived in the mountains. I feel in love with alpine areas at a young age, but living in the Bay Area made it difficult to spend any significant time there. Except for a few weeks vacation I year I was stuck in the urban bustle with only the occasional forays to the unpopulated coastal zones. The ocean is vast and wonderful, and I will admit that I miss living near the sea, but the mountains are just. . . the way they speak to me is truly beyond words. They speak to me on a visceral, soul-deep level. That's why I love Montana and Bozeman in particular. That's why I chose to come to grad school in Utah. I like to say I'm a Rockies girl (not the baseball team; go Twins!) at heart but was just born in the wrong state.

When I first moved away from Bozeman I didn't think I'd fall in love with another place. I was wrong; I think I'm falling in love with Utah. Yet, even though I love it here, I still refer to my trips back to Big Sky Country as going home. Wonder if I'll ever stop. . .