Ode to Indiana

It's an uncommonly sunny late-November day in Indianapolis; the kind that beckons for a walk in the park. But first, a blog. Leaving my adopted home only a year and half after I loaded my life's possessions into my Prius and drove some 2,3000 miles to get here is, apparently, what it takes to get me writing again.

"And you decided to come here?" 

That's what people always ask me when they learn I moved to Indiana from California, where I lived a 10-minute walk from the beach and could go watch baby seals during my lunch breaks.

"Why the hell would you come here?"

I came here for work, technically. But the job was just a happy accident - something tangential to the experiences that have made me love this place. It feels more honest to say I came here to dance all around the city with my new friends, walk to the beautiful Central Library in a snowstorm, and watch how quickly the cornfields grow in summertime.

So, do you want to know why this California girl came to Indiana? Take a look and see:

That time we danced all around the city. If you've never seen Indianapolis, Naptown Stomp made a lovely highlights reel of some of the most famous spots!

Video credit to Kerry Kapaku and Doug Sutton, dancers are from Naptown Stomp. 

The Lindy 500.  Nowhere else in the world can you name a dance team the Lindy 500 and throw an Indy car race into your performance routine. And yes, you should watch both videos because you can never have too many Indy cars made out of dancers.

Seasons. They are this thing that happens in Indiana (albeit sometimes unpredictably, and sometimes with tornadoes).

Spring: Flowers and thunderstorms!

Summer: What, you didn't know there were beaches in Indiana?

Fall: Too wonderful for just one picture.

Winter: Nothing like the feel of fresh snow beneath your feet (assuming you are wearing nice warm boots - don't go out there barefoot).














My horse loves it here. I brought him to his new barn warning the trainer that he could be quite hot-headed and tricky, but his long days grazing out in the fields of the Midwest have made him pretty mellow. Tarquin has won the respect and affection of many - including the dressage judges! Our first ever horse trial together was here in Indiana, and we finished in second.

Photo credit: Michelle Rakotomalala

Photo credit: Lee Ann Zobbe

Indiana has been a jumping-off point to so many other great places, too. I finally made my country music fan pilgrimage to Nashville, Tennessee. I've eaten sooooo many tacos in Chicago. Went to the top of the arch in St. Louis. Had sweet tea in Atlanta. Danced in the snow in Michigan. Made a beer run to the next county over in Kentucky ("'s a dry county here, y'all. Go on up over the hill, about 12 miles, and just across the county line there's a Shell station that'll sell ya some beer...")

And now I'm jumping off to the next thing: Joining the Peace Corps to serve for 2 years in Ukraine. Stay tuned for a revamp of this old blog as I prepare for my big move to Eastern Europe! Until then, I'm flying west for a little while, to that land where my parents complain of freezing temperatures when it's 50 degrees outside, that land so wonderful and big and complicated it makes people the world over ask me why the heck I am anywhere else.

Thanks, Indiana! I shall see you again someday!

Photo credit: Michelle Rakotomalala