So I'm having a real tough time getting started on this writing assignment for tomorrow. Tougher than usual I should say. I think I just have too many distractions, so I thought hitting up the blog might help a little. Good thing I'm stuck at 11:30pm the day before its due haha. I went and checked out an awesome new place today with my bike, Peace Valley County Park, just outside (northwest) of town. Its a long narrow lake, Lake Galena. Theres a great trail that goes around the entire lake, through the woods, meadows, fields, real nice variety. Apparantly you can rent kayaks and paddleboats there too. I was out there a little before sunset and it was just gorgeous out. I'm trying to get out and enjoy these nice days and evenings as much as I can before it really starts cooling down. If anyone has any cool local spots for mountain biking or hiking or anything like that please let me know!

I feel like I've learned more so far in the first two weeks here at DelVal than I have in the past 6 years that I've been in school. I guess I don't really mean this literally but it sure feels like it. I think maybe it's that I'm more receptive to everything than I have been in the past? Either way its a great feeling. This is the first time that I've actually been the least bit enthusiastic about school. I think this is why it's taken me so long to get to this point. I'm currently 24 and I'm just now seeing the light at the end of the tunnel as far as getting an undergraduate degree. In high school I was never really sure what I wanted to do, but I had ALWAYS been into cars, tools, building and fixing things, various hobbies like radio controlled cars, model rockets, that sort of thing. But at that age with so much going on it's hard to look that far into the future to see or know what you're going to want to do years later. I feel like I still don't know exactly what I want to do but at least now I have it narrowed down enough to get it done. I was accepted into the Mechanical Engineering program at the University of Delaware after high school. I knew this would be a challenge, but I didn't realize I would pretty much have to devote 98% of my life to school all of a sudden. I ended up failing a couple of classes in the first year there. I did well enough to get B's and C's, but the harder classes like statics, calculus, etc. were extremely difficult just to get a passing grade. After that first year of just getting by, I decided that wasn't what I wanted, and switched over to another area that I've always been interested in, the environmental field.

the bugs

One thing I've noticed every night that I stay out here is the bugs, they're nearly deafening! I try to keep my windows open since its such a nice mild time of year, temperature wise. I'm sitting here now at my computer with music on and its definately louder than it would be if my windows weren't open. It sounds like mostly crickets and cicadas, but I'm sure theres plenty more I don't even know about chiming in. I love being able to hear them though, so much better than a highway or something obnoxious. Combined with a nice breeze coming through my apartment every few minutes it provides such a nice relaxing atmosphere.

starting off is the hardest

So I wasn't really sure what I was going to make this blog about. I wanted to do something broad enough that I could actually write about under a similar theme week after week. I always seem to be pretty aware of my surroundings and I really try to take time to appreciate them whenever possible. I've always thought of myself as being fairly in tune with my natural surrounding in particular; what's left of the world that has and has not been affected by us humans. I love to follow whats going on with the weather, I love checking out new parks and natural areas like woods, lakes, rivers, you name it, I love to explore. So on that note, I decided to try to write about cool things i come across on a daily or weekly basis, or anywhere in between. Some of my hobbies through which I stay in touch with the natural world around me are mountain biking, hiking, kayaking, camping, fishing, and boating. I'm always looking for new places to check out, so if anyone has any ideas for me for the Doylestown area please feel free to share. I just moved here to go to school so I'm open to any suggestions!

testing

testing, ive never used a blog before