While it's felt rather anticlimactic to be home the week preceding and following the halfway mark of the year, it's been incredible to be home a few weeks, getting back into my routine at the gym and with my pup, and treading water with keeping up with yard work! A giant seven foot cactus which toppled onto my air conditioning unit greeted me upon my return home mid-June.
It had rained more than five inches while I was away. Single-homeowner big year life is no joke! On the plus side, I suddenly had backyard wildlife habitat!
I've been spending a lot of time reflecting on the first half of the year - travel experiences, birds, meeting strangers and catching up with friends, and my own solo experiences in nature. The last month of my travels, I've found myself in beautiful nature spaces - Southeast Arizona, Maine, Washington State - alone and simply crying at the beauty around me. That's not me, I thought. While I've been an emotional person my whole life, I've never been one to be moved to tears with how beautiful something looks.
Upon reflection, I came to realize that I was crying because I was happy, the level of true happiness that's mostly evaded me the last few years. The kind of happiness that, for a long time, I didn't think I'd ever find again. This month marks the 3 year anniversary of my own assault, something I'll talk more about in a blog post soon.
There were lots of birds to be seen in the first half of 2021 - halfway through I'm at 644 - along with the planning logistics and travel. The second half of the year, my blog will be more focused on the greater mission of elevating women birders, sharing my own assault story, the healing process, and discussions of conversations I've had with other women, in addition of course to posts about more year birds and travels!
I'm looking specifically to connect with other women on my upcoming travels listed below! If you'll be in these areas, email me at tiffanykersten@gmail.com to connect!
Mid-July:
South Florida and the Keys
Mid-August:
Southwest Wings Birding Festival, AZ
Southeast Arizona Birding Festival, AZ
Boise & Twin Falls, ID & NE Nevada
Late August:
Seabirding Pelagics, Hatteras NC
Mid-to-late September:
Coastal CA from San Diego to San Francisco
October 14-18:
Cape May Fall Festival
November 10-14:
Rio Grande Valley Birding Festival
+ available for limited private guiding dates in November & December!
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