Best Thoughts Of Spring

Even if you're not wildly observant, you probably noticed that I changed the title of this little blog. I decided it was time for some blog revamping and refreshment. I chose this name first and foremost because I like the meaning of the word sage. According to the dictionary, a sage is a profoundly wise person, someone who is respected for their wealth of knowledge and experience. I know I am not wise, I am far from it and you don't need to remind me, but it's what I want to be, and it's what I strive for. I made it to say "sagebrush," because while the desire to acquire wisdom speaks to where I am going in life, I wanted something in the name to tie me to where I am from. I love the smell of sagebrush so much that when I was younger, and we would go on family hikes to anywhere where it grew, I would pick it by the handful and cram it into my pockets, so that I could still smell it after we went home. To me, it smells like Montana, and I like that very much. I like the new name, and I hope you do too. Anyway, yesterday was my birthday, and it was absolutely grand. My parents gave me a pair of Birkenstocks, and I don't care how ugly you think Birkenstocks might be, they are some darn comfortable shoes. My brother gave me books, which I am absolutely sure I will enjoy. We hiked up a mountain (or a very large hill), cooked a Mediterranean feast, ate far too much, and at the end of a blissful day, I was a whole new age. Fantastic. April has been a month of joy for me. The arrival of spring always makes my heart ecstatic, never mind that it snowed today and will snow many more times before summer. It's springtime, and that means hope, and joy, and the knowledge that in just over a month and a half, I will be done with high school. There are many other things on my mind that are making life joyous, such as the fact that I leave the United States for Morocco in around five months. I've also been thinking about what I want to do with myself after this year, and tentative wisps of possibility and plans are beginning to take shape. However, it's top-secret for awhile. Spring is here, and my enormous adventure is getting slowly closer, and I am finding new friends in unlikely places. I am peaceful, and happy, and now, I'm also seventeen.