Tomorrow, this nomad is traveling yet again. Heading back to another home “home No. 2”.
Wednesday morning, I will board a big bird and soar into the clouds over brown and white farmland, chilly Atlantic water, dusty Saharan desert and finally down to a familiar green, red and brown land.
It has been over 5 months since my feet touched Ugandan soil, and yes I do miss it. And Yes, I am very excited to greet familiar faces, and exchange handshakes and hugs with dear ones.
And Yes, my goodbyes Stateside have been hard and will continue to be so.
Planting temporary roots in North Dakota over these past 150 days has been good and a bit of a challenge, but having to rip them out again – I’m not looking forward to that.
Laying down roots again with friends has been the most difficult aspect of being in my US home. Lives keep being lived, people move, get married, have babies, change jobs, get new friends. And the cycle just keeps going. Jumping back into this outside of the Christmas rush had its benefits, but merging lives with old friends whose lives kept going “here” and my life kept going “there” is hard. The written word over email and International phone calls help, but there is that lack of togetherness.
And now, some of these hard-to-germinate roots have started to grab ahold of the soil.
But now, RRRRIIIIIIIIP! Those roots must come out. And by golly, it hurts.
But with every departure, there will be another arrival. And soon, I will arrive to my “home No. 2”. Departures and arrives have been my rhythm as of late.
Because if anything, this rhythm of good byes and hellos gives my eyes a place to long for. Where this spinning sphere will be no more and there will be no more departures.
Just one big arrival.
notesofanomad 