So Long...For Now.

"Sunrise, Sunset" as it is sung. 

With the Dimmick House well cleared of my whimsical collection of doo-dads and whats-its, the sturdy, yellow GPS unit placed firmly in the hands of another individual eager to serve the Farragut community, and my physical body well placed on the other side of the American continent, it seems like an appropriate time to wrap up this blog. 

My first day in Farragut after having just flown in from my NCCC service in California two days prior.

Frankly I have been putting it off.  While normally my blog are neglected from the distraction of day to day life, or even a lack of inspiration and creativity, I let this one sit this past month simply because I wasn't ready to move on.  To say that my year in Farragut was full of wonderful memories is a vast understatement.  In fact, without hyperbole, I might even venture to say that this AmeriCorps experience has been the brightest chronological highlight of my young life. 

Goodness knows I certainly didn't expect to fall head over heels for the Knox area, stormwater management, or even AmeriCorps state/national - but I did.  Hard.   Maybe it was the people, the work, the location, or just the way the stars seemed to align there concerning my life at the time, but whenever I think back to this past service year, I cannot help but feel a warm wave of nostalgia pass over me as if I were reliving the good ol' days...though those good ol' days have only just recently been let out of my grasp.

Or perhaps I'm just overly sentimental and a bit off of my rocker - but hey - it's my blog and I'll say what I feel.  It is important for me to acknowledge that my service there got me where I am now, and it is through the memories I had there, and the knowledge that I gained, that I will rely on when the road gets bumpy on my current adventure.

A sincere thank you to everyone who made my time in Knoxville/Farragut so special whimsical.  I will hold it close to my heart.

To stop my own rambling I will leave you with the River Unicorn and my final presentation to the Town.  What I fail to find the words to say, I know this whimsical creature can with just one photo.

-Josh

Thoughts

As of Friday of this week I will be taking the recycling posters off of my desk, putting in my final data for Farragut's Adopt-A-Stream program, and saying my goodbyes to all of the wonderful people I have met on this leg of my AmeriCorps adventure.  To, as of next week, no longer speak of my AmeriCorps service in the present tense is strange to say the least.  After two years of adventures, friendships, traveling, and daily doses of elbow grease I have few stories to share that don't involve me being in a gray t-shirt with an AmeriCorps logo on the sleeve.

My NCCC experience framed my State/National year here in Farragut so well.  Not only was my supervisor also a NCCC Fire Management Team alum, but from a personal development perspective, my time working in team based national service really prepared me for the challenges and opportunities that living and working alone in this job would provide.  It also provided me with the self-confidence and assuredness that I lacked coming immediatly out of college.  AmeriCorps has been good to me - but I suppose I don't need to tell you that if you have ever frequented my blogs before.

I cannot think of anything I would have rather done with my life this year aside from this job.  I know that may sound like exaggeration to some but it is nonetheless true.  Not only was Farragut an amazingly supportive and enjoyable site, the work that entailed always proved to feel important and of value to the community.  Never did I feel that I was squandering my or my sites time with the work I was doing.  I have been proud to be an important cog in the maching that is this municipality.

As a sentimental person, goodbyes are hard for me, so I think I'll just leave this blogpost as it is for now and try to come up with a little more closure later :)

Now it is time to delete about a kajillion emails off of this work computer to set it up for next year's AmeriCorps!

A License to Serve

I am featured on the national AmeriCorps Alums blog!  Check it out!