Stillness

Say a wish at sunset. Close your eyes and whisper it into your palm. Cup it tight and then blow it out on the horizon. Birds, butterflies, and little fishes taking messages to another place. I hope they get there.

Still waiting on a reply for mine. But here is the deal: I was accepted into my dream program to finally begin my PhD studies. Conservation, agroecology, and community meets science communications and visual media. The University of Otago in the South Island. The land of the long white cloud, Aotearoa. But....

There was a catch. I have to take a course first. A stats course that technically was never finished during my masters. So I'm benched until May doing this course to go forward in my life. I'm doing it remotely, but need regular internet and a proctor for exams. Expensive, inconvenient, and no work lined up this winter now.

One thing is clear I need to go where there are things happening. I have to move on for my own good. They say come to NZ now if you can swing the visa, but it is not how I wanted it like this. And no promise of work for sure, no coming back. I have teaching work in the States I can do over the summer that is always fun and pays well. But I'm on a shoestring. Where to go the next three months?