9/7

I'll be away awhile,

But never gone.

The Dark

My overactive imagination gets the better of me in the dark, even at age 24.  Driving home on the pitch-black, semi-rural backroads that lead back to my little suburban town, I'm always imagining seeing things pop out of the dark.  Last week there was a guy walking along the road.  Luckily I saw him from far away with my high beams, but when I realized that I wasn't just seeing something I was hypothetically anxious about, my heart nearly stopped for a moment.

What is so scary about the dark?  Not knowing what's there? The lurking things that we make up in our heads?  Both, I'd say.  But we have to head into the dark sometimes, especially when we want to get all the way back home.  And while the scary things are certainly intimidating to imagine, more often than not they are just that - imaginary.  For those times when they are real, well, then it's smart to be navigating with those high beams, staying alert to keep to the path towards where you want to go.

Home

I've traded skyscrapers for mountains,
Sirens for coyote howls,
Car horns for frog calls,
Hundreds of street lights for more stars,
Asphalt for seas of trees,
Drought for full rivers,
But nothing can replace the people.
So I'm starting to understand
That home exists as
A little bit of everywhere,
A little bit of everything,
And a little bit of everyone.
I can live with that.

Mountains

The mountains are in my veins
The cool fresh air is the sap of my life force
The pines sing to my soul
The ancient roots planted themselves in my core before I knew them
The sea is my heartbeat
The unceasing rhythms give life to my being
The mountains pines and sea are my home
The mountains pines and sea are within me.

Saturday at Home

Callback completed
Lungs full of crisp northwest air
O brave new world!

Home is

where the dog is.