{"id":366,"date":"2005-01-23T21:30:00","date_gmt":"2005-01-23T21:30:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/mercurystate.wordpress.com\/2005\/01\/23\/haunting-home\/"},"modified":"2016-10-19T20:26:06","modified_gmt":"2016-10-20T00:26:06","slug":"haunting-home","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/seekingsol.com\/haunting-home\/","title":{"rendered":"haunting home"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\" <\/a><\/p>\n

(the sunrise, this morning, in oregon)<\/p>\n

*****<\/p>\n

(A letter to two former neighbors, dear friends, and fellow divemasters, who continue to live in Taganga, in the hotel of the house where I was living in Colombia.)<\/em><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Hey boys!<\/span><\/p>\n

Haven’t forgot you at all. In fact, I gather lots of fine stares every time I pull out my rabbit book and pet the stuffed bunny face (you guys gave me) pasted onto the cover. I think it (the bunny) is lonely for the old times, when it was attached to a birthday bag and used to distribute gifts of tacky taste. But it\u2019s found a happy home now with the other rabbits of “Watership Down”<\/a>, who are all quite accustomed to a life of pilgrimage and adaptation, and I think it\u2019ll be very content with its new burrow on the bookshelf of my 6-year old niece.<\/span><\/p>\n

As for me and being far away from our own old shared burrow, I don’t \u201clong\u201d for South America, so much as I simply hold love for it. After all, there\u2019s no need for me to dwell in a past when my present and future have managed to match in adventure and excitement (which I consider the ultimate \u201ctrick\u201d to living in the present moment). And although my arrival back in the States was safe and without major complications, it hasn\u2019t been without slight and expected turbulence\u2026<\/span><\/p>\n

On my first connection, the airline stewardess tried to put no less than six \u201cdisposable\u201d cups on my tray table; 1 can of apple juice \u201cdouble-cupped\u201d with a plastic cup, with 1 more plastic cup full of ice, and then 1 styrofoam cup of tea, double-cupped again inside another plastic cup with 1 more empty cup for water. I handed them all (but one) back. And an hour later, when I denied her offer of three more plastic cups and asked instead for my requested refill in the exact same cup that I used the first time around, she looked at me like I was crazy.<\/span><\/p>\n

Am I?<\/span><\/p>\n

This I am beginning to wonder.<\/span><\/p>\n

And, accustomed to a life of tuning IN to everything (because it\u2019s either silent, new, or not quite understood) I suddenly feel like some one has reached over and swung the life volume knob round 360 degrees . During my layover in Miami, much like a rabbit, I scurried around the airport, hiding from the obvious and bombarding clarity of English cell phone conversations, overhead speakers and televisions. Having no tent to retreat into (as I did during my last lay-over in the Miami airport<\/a>), I finally found a sunny corner in a hallway that was in the quieter process of remodel \u2013 and tuned myself out. You can probably imagine my relief, when I finally took cover in the cozy, quiet and known surroundings of my parent\u2019s home in the hills of Portland, Oregon.<\/span><\/p>\n

But yesterday, at the movie rental store (while coincidentally renting, \u201cSupersize Me<\/a>\u201d), I picked up a washer-machine sized “pre-packaged, ready-to-serve” bucket of microwave popcorn (with the popcorn, butter, salt and seasonings pre-mixed in a plastic bag at the bottom of the well) and laughed out loud. I held it up (it took two hands) and showed it to my mom, “God I wish I could show this to my Colombian host mother, Diana! Wouldn’t she have a laugh at this!” And my mom cocked her head and me and asked, “Why? What’s funny about that?” And then my 2-year-former self cocked her head inside of me and said, \u201cYeah. Why? What\u2019s so funny about this?\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Sometimes I\u2019m not sure if it\u2019s more disturbing or relieving when you come to those moments in your life where you suddenly realize, with inner-self-cocking clarity, just how much you\u2019ve changed over a recent life course. Seems \u201chome\u201d — along with hugs, flannel sheets, organic tofu and 6-year old nieces — is also great for setting that life learning limbo bar.<\/span><\/p>\n

And I can\u2019t help but notice that my bags are still unpacked and wonder if that might be reflective of some subconscious reluctance to settle in. (Although I think I\u2019ll give myself a break on this one in consideration of the fact that as soon as they are emptied, they will again be repacked). I feel a bit transparent; haunting my old house, dropping in and out of new and old versions of \u201cme,\u201d and letting my mind wander and wonder how a 10-hour flight can really define the difference between \u201chere\u201d and \u201cthere.\u201d I probably sound perplexed, but truth is, I\u2019m quite comfortable on this couch of confusion. The world is definitely spinning around me right now, but is there any better way to seek what\u2019s straight, solid and still?<\/span><\/p>\n

Enough of my ramble. It’s time for me to get going. The sun is about to rise, and honestly, the show here is just as impressive over the mountains and tall pines of Oregon as it is over the hills and smooth beach of Taganga. Thank god the Divine is not prejudiced or biased with where she exhibits her daily displays of brilliancy.<\/span><\/p>\n

Please give Freddy, Diana and Mayra my hugs and love. Remind Freddy to figure out what (American) size he wears in Chacos so that I can bring him a pair the next time I come to Colombia. Let Diana know that I\u2019m still crying in the isles with laughter at her comic levels of shock over the American pre-packaged and processed food fetish. And tell Mayra that I demonstrated her reggaeton dance routine to my niece, who in turn, tipped over in her own fit of laughter at me.<\/span><\/p>\n

sending more warmth to your tropics,<\/span><\/p>\n

sol<\/p>\n

(sol’s travel photos<\/a>) (about sol<\/a>) (some sol stories<\/a>) (LeapNow.org<\/a>) (travel disclaimer<\/a>) (packing list<\/a>) (photogallery guestbook<\/a>) (blogger profile<\/a>) (World Nomads Travel Insurance<\/a>)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

(the sunrise, this morning, in oregon) ***** (A letter to two former neighbors, dear friends, and fellow divemasters, who continue to live in Taganga, in the hotel of the house where I was living in… <\/p>\n

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