“Connor, we are moving to Indiana. Where? Indiana!”
That’s all my parents said to me when I got the tragic and life changing news. Moving from Colorado to Indiana threw an unlimited lifestyle change. The stale mile-high air slowly transitioned into a humid and muggy countryside filled with every insect and vegetable known to man. Instead of spotting the occasional rabid infected prairie dog on the side of the road I began to see deer grazing on our front yard and corn so high it blocked the sun. On weekend nights, the agenda changed from movies and friends getting together to fishing and enjoying a roaring bonfire in the woods. On snowy December days the Rocky Mountain ski slopes turned into sledding down our backyard hill. The change from Colorado to Indiana offered new, different, exciting, and unpredictable opportunities, many that I am yet to discover. I have experienced many things I would have never dreamed of in Colorado. Before moving to Indiana, I’d never seen so many trees other than pine and aspen. Traveling up to the mountains would be the only time wildlife appeared so abundant. The wildlife in Indiana backs up right to my home where I can watch the fawns in the spring stray from the woods to eat my mother’s dazzling flowers. In Colorado, the bright fluorescent city lights would glow and drown out the star’s light but in Indiana the Milky Way and Big Dipper light the sky for hundreds of miles. The roads stretched across the countryside only to see a minute number of cars pass every day. Meanwhile, in Denver, cars sit bumper to bumper on I-25 waiting for one lane on the interstate to free itself from traffic. The lack of construction projects which only act as a nuisance and a barricade leave the countryside roads free of congestion and detours. In Colorado, I would look forward to seeing the big rock star concerts at the Red Rocks Amphitheatre but now the only event near me is the 4-H Marshall County Fair. As the sun sets in Colorado, I would watch it as it slowly crept beneath the mountain range but in Indiana the sun retreats below the tree tops and sky high corn with the flickering light from fire flies and the constant sound of screeching saccades.
The move has brought me to appreciate life because there is something beautiful in everything. The mile-high Rocky Mountains and unlimited sun make Colorado unique as the abundance of vegetables and wildlife make Indiana beautiful. The shift from Colorado to Indiana has taught me to be easy going and to see the greatness in a foreign place which at first might seem completely dull. I have made many moves in my life including from Singapore to Colorado and from California to Colorado but the most difficult and life changing move has been from Colorado to Indiana.