How many NorCal kids does it take to screw in a lightbulb?*

A photo I took of a vendor at the Yolo County Fair.

Dearest Friends,

This summer has been the best summer of my life. I have been living comfortably at home and working 40 hour weeks in the screen-printing shop. I have been biking a few miles a day in the 100 degree heat and falling in love with my home town. My summer has been like scenes from some sappy coming-of-age movie filled with long summer days and hot nights, peach festivals, county fairs, bike rides to the creek, backyard concerts and drunken adventures. I have made new friends, and kept the old, and even managed to have a successful summer relationship. I have had my some mild stress associated with the planning of my trip to Florence, but nothing compared to the incredible stress I felt last semester at Willamette. Overall, I have been feeling good.

My fairytale of a summer is coming to a close, and I will be leaving for Italy on Tuesday (hopefully to start another dream life). I will be living in an apartment in Florence with other students. I will be taking photography, video, intermediate etching, screen-printing and Italian (my classes will be taught in English). I am looking forward to going to art school and being surrounded by other art students. It is sometimes a struggle to find a community at Willamette and is supportive of, or even interested in art studies. I hope that I will find something different there and am able to push myself academically.

The one bummer in my life is saying goodbye to my childhood home. My father is moving to my step-mom’s house in the country, which they have been renting for the past few years. It has been painful to watch the place empty, as we move out of the house my father built 35 years ago. On top of packing for Italy, I have been packing up all of my childhood crap that my Dad has been hanging on to. I suppose some of you have been through this with the ol’ guest room makeover. Oh well, hopefully I will move into an rad house in Salem (right guys?).

I hope all of you are doing well on your adventures and I will update you soon once I am settled in Italy.

Yours Truly,
Claire H. Lindsay-McGinn

P.S. I added a sidebar with all the addresses of y'all that were recently posted so they could easily located for some grand letter writing. Please add to the list! or give them to me and I will add to the list using my minimal, but effective, html skillzzzz.

*Hella