Hello to the Blogging World!
Being that this is my very first blog post, I feel that it is only appropriate for me to introduce myself. My name is McClane Noffke and I am originally from Holmen, WI. During my childhood and adolescence, I spent the majority of my time reading, drawing, or playing outside. My grandmother would take me to the library anytime I went to visit her and she would always buy me books she saw at thrift stores or yard sales. As for my love of art, my parents were keen on displaying my art on the fridge weekly or buying me a big corkboard for my room, so that I could tack my drawings to the wall. And as for my love of the outdoors, I would spend hours upon hours in the sandbox, on the swings, or in the garden with my mom. Summertime weekends were spent swimming, canoeing, or tubing on the Mississippi River. And wintertime weekends were spent sledding down the big hill in the backyard with my two older siblings.
As I grew older and entered high school my joy of reading, drawing, and playing outside evolved. My reading level grew higher and more intense. My love of drawing turned into painting and then ultimately shifted into a completely different art form: music. I put forth a majority of my free time in high school playing the flute in various ensembles: concert bands, pep bands, marching bands, and even solo performances. But during the times I was not reading or practicing my latest sheet music, I was outside. I found that I enjoyed hiking the most and bought myself a WI state park pass. With this pass, my family, friends, and I were able to drive to Perrot State Park every weekend to hike different trails. I found a lot of hidden gems on these weekends: the Holland Sand Prairie, the Halfway Creek Trail, Hixon Forest, Grandad Bluff, and the Trempealeau Nature Reserve trails. Summertime weekends were still spent on the river swimming, canoeing, and tubing. And winter weekends were spent trying to snowshoe at the Norskedalen Nature Trails, or they were spent reading books and practicing music.
My love of all these activities was carried with me as I set off to college. My fondness for reading has helped make those textbook chapters bearable and my enjoyment of music led to my enrollment in the University’s marching band, pep band, and concert bands. And as for my devotion to the outdoors, I have begun to budget what little money I make so I am able to travel to places outside of Wisconsin during the warmer months. During the summer of 2019, I spent a week in Arizona where my family and I hiked to the bottom of the Grand Canyon and camped out overnight, walked through Antelope Canyon, and hiked along the creeks in Zion. In the summer of 2021 I was able to spend a week in Utah where I hiked through The Narrows, Angel’s Landing in Zion, sand sledding and ATV riding at the Coral Pink Sand Dunes, viewing dinosaur tracks in Kanab, hiking among the hoodoos at Bryce Canyon, and swimming in the waterfall at the Lower Calf Creek Falls. And while I do not yet have plans for the summer of 2022, I have had my eye on a few parks in Montana.
But until then, I will be spending my time reading textbooks for classes, playing music for the pep band, and waiting for the warmer weather.
So now that you know a little bit more about me, I hope that you enjoy reading and interacting with the rest of my blog posts.
