2/16/2023

Hello Blog Readers and Hello Wisconsin,

I’m currently taking a short vacation in Eau Claire, which is a small city in central Wisconsin located at the confluence of the Chippewa and Eau Claire Rivers. The city’s name (which is pronounced like “O’Claire”) means “clear water” in French, and indeed the place has a LOT of water. In fact, I’m not sure that I’ve ever been to a place quite like this – where walking paths and bridges galore criss-cross over the various river banks and islands that make up the city. It makes for an immediately walkable downtown, and in fact you want to walk around a bunch, if only to cross all of the bridges, see all of the views from said bridges, and explore the large number of businesses, bars, and restaurants nestled into the various districts. It is probably downright dreamy in the summer and fall months, but I of course am here in the winter (it’s currently 9 degrees outside with windchill).

Eau Claire is a college town, and the University of Wisconsin Eau Claire is the reputable arts and music college of the state. As a result, there are a lot of art galleries and sculptures spread throughout the community. On the music side, in the summer months, the place hosts a huge annual music festival, and in general the entire city is rocking out. Literally! It took me a bit to notice what was going on, but the entire downtown’s crosswalks and traffic lights are wired and synced to be playing music at all times. It was my first time experiencing something like that in a downtown setting, and it was pretty cool. Like having a soundtrack to your walk with no need for headphones.

So what am I doing here in Eau Claire? Why was this slightly-cooler-than-average Midwest town even a consideration for a vacation? Well, it all goes back to 2020…and oddly enough to Taylor Swift. As I’ve written about before in this blog, the years from 2019-2021 were absolute bears in my life. While those years also had some wonderful moments and people scattered through them, in general, during that time if it could go wrong and punch at my mental health, then it punched and it punched hard. There came a time from the end of 2020 to the start of 2021 where the only things really getting me by were a weekly Bible study with a great and mentoring group of Red Bluff professionals, my faith, some Youtube travel and backpacking blogs, and an album that had been released by Taylor Swift called Folklore. I’m not sure that I’ve ever really listened to Taylor Swift outside of that album (she’s usually…not really my style), but if you’ve ever listened to that album which was award winning and one of the best of 2020, then you know that there’s something different about it. It’s haunting, and has more of an indie and folk song vibe than a pop vibe. It deals with concepts like lost love, heartbreak, and trying but failing to make the mark. And in so doing it hit a mark with what I was going through at that time and still hits that mark today with my still broken heart. It’s probably the album that I’ve listened to more in the 2020’s than any other album.

The album was made in conjunction with artists from bands like The National and Bon Iver, bands that I have been listening to since college, and a documentary was made on the album that was released on Disney+ and that you can view on the streaming service to this day. And the duet with Justin Vernon of Bon Iver is particularly well-done in the documentary. You can see and listen to it here actually if you want. In the full documentary, it explains that this performance is being undertaken simultaneously in Upstate New York, where Taylor Swift is singing and in Eau Claire, where Justin Vernon is singing. And me, back in 2020-2021 watching this random Taylor Swift documentary got curious about this Eau Claire place that I had never heard of before but which was apparently the home of a very famous band called Bon Iver.

As I moved out of Red Bluff in fall 2021 and started preparing my huge half-year journey through the country, Eau Claire was actually going to be the original start of my journey after embarking from my parents’ home in Omaha. But, due to a string of weather systems that were threatening to push through the area, it didn’t make sense to go through Eau Claire. So instead, I pushed further east to spend a quick, stormy night in Appleton, and from there beelined my way up to Pictured Rocks and Marquette and then got out of the area before the next big storm system pushed through. The rest of that journey is history at this point, but I always knew that there was an asterisk to the trip, in that it was supposed to kickstart here in Eau Claire, not up at Pictured Rocks.

While that should give you my motivation for coming to Eau Claire, it still doesn’t fully explain why I’m here. The answer is pretty typical in adult, professional life. I’ve been working hard lately – a lot of projects and a ton of meetings. In fact, since getting back to Marquette from my grandfather’s funeral, I don’t think that a day has gone by on the calendar where I’m not buried in meetings or otherwise doing my best to get organized on various projects. A short vacation to recharge was needed, and scouring a map trying to locate an escape about 4-5 hours away from home, that thought of Eau Claire came back to my mind. So, I found myself a comfortable (but unfortunately also kind of hipstery) hotel to stay at downtown, and now I plan to just unplug here for a few days – from email, from calendars, from computer screens, from everything. There’s nothing on the agenda for the next few days but to hang out in my hotel room (which is complete with a vinyl player), explore the area, hopefully take a few nice pictures, enjoy a few good restaurants, update the blog, and catch up on sleep. Sleep especially is sounding wonderful right about now (even though it’s only 7 pm). My insomnia has been terrible lately.

Cheers,

Rob