Thursday, June 26, 2008

fun fountain reflections


The boy and I are in Texas visiting my family: mom, dad, brother, sister-in-law, niece and nephew-in-progress. Today I get a whole day in the library for writing. It's awesome - why don't I do this at home? I've only got 9 more chapters to respond to, to wrap up my authoring duties for the book! (yeah, dad's been done with his 31 chapters and background essays for many, many months)

This visit has included many trips down memory lane. Road tripping to the town I grew up in, visiting my parents future, final resting place, eating at my favorite Tex-Mex and BBQ restaurants, enjoying a night out with my high-school tennis partner (hi Brenda, sorry we couldn't stay out later than the kids) and playing in the fun fountain. It's true that you can't go home and everything changes. Some of the changes are exciting and some are disappointing. Every time I make a trip to Texas, the past always returns whether through sight, sound, smell, touch or taste. Sometimes I can get stuck in the land that was and miss out on the here and now.

To paraphrase kathy escobar @ carnival in my head - how much do i miss, we miss, by living life in our heads, in the past or the future, instead of living life with our hearts now. With every trip back to Texas, I think I'm learning bit by bit to appreciate the fun in the now.

2 comments:

TH said...

Hey, you guys aren't supposed to be having fun. You're going to make me wish I was there. Freyja says 'hi'.

Anonymous said...

Hey sister,

Sorry to pull you in to my web of sentimentality so forcefully while you have been here. I don't know why I find so much comfort in what used to make me so bored.

Did you get an e-mail address from Brenda? If so, I would like to hopefully make a tennis date with her in the not to distant future. And don't forget to look up Bobby Seitz in your old SHS yearbooks when you get home. You will feel ridiculous for not remembering who he was.

Your favorite brother,

Nick