Packed Up, Packed Out

The Road Ahead

Everything is packed in boxes again, for the 10th time since 2010.  I've moved twice a year, in and out from one place to the next.  Some places were for necessity, others for change in scenery.  My apartment after college, where I stayed for 2 1/2 years, has been my longest place of residence for the past 12 years.  I'm looking forward to the day when I break that record.

A diverse variety of bird callings woke me up this morning.  Yesterday, when I pulled into the long dirt driveway of my childhood home, my cat bounced over to greet me.  The woods around me shimmered green and yellow with shadows of long, tall trees.  The crunchy sound of an animal stepping through the forest startled me.  I stopped for a moment to look and listen carefully.  Wondering if there could be a bear strolling through the leaves and bushes, I picked up my squirming cat and brought her inside.  When I listened for the footsteps again, the sound seemed to have disappeared.  As I was bringing stuff into the house, I glanced over at the front yard to see a deer walking around.  I pulled opened the sliding glass doors in the house to let in the warm breeze and finally sat down to have a glass of water.

This is the house I lived in for 15 years of my life, 17 years on the same piece of New Jersey property.  I've been a part of building it - walking over the beams and helping paint the walls as a three year old.  Sitting at my kitchen table, I read an article about Sufjan Stevens in Uncut magazine.  It had been sitting on my shelf in my room since March, but I hadn't had time to even think about it.  I love this quote:

"You have to cast out your demons and rebel against your traditions, but you always have to crawl back to the homeland."

Crawling is how I would describe my return journey here, after a intensely busy and fast-paced semester.  The homeland tastes sweeter after journeying around on the other side - the moving, the boxes, the up and down stairs, and feeling displaced.  I feel relieved of the world when I'm here.

What a gift the present can be.  

Now it's onward through 6 hours of Pennsylvania.  68 degrees and partly cloudy.  No snow.  Concrete highways.  Hope to see some lovely, rolling, green hills.

Goodbye home, see you in the Fall.