One of my first views of Lake Menomin at one of the overlooks.
When I arrived in Menomonie a week
ago, I wasn’t sure what to expect. First of all, I’d never been to the Midwest
before. Most of what I knew came from A Prairie Home Companion and reading the
Laura Ingalls Wilder book Little House in
the Big Woods (which it to say, not much). I didn’t know how to begin pronouncing
Menomonie and had never had fried cheese curds or rhubarb pie—would a small
town girl from North Carolina fit in? I was also a little unsure of how
qualified I was to work on a biology research project. My academic path has
been anything but traditional, and for most of my college career I hadn’t felt
totally at home in any one major. Instead, I’d dabbled a little in horticulture,
art, urban planning, and geography. I was a little worried that I wouldn’t be
experienced enough in any one area to make a useful contribution to any
research project. On top of that, I was a bit nervous about meeting so many new
people from all over the country.
Listening to the town band during our first Tuesday night concert (aka Pie Night!).
