It’s funny… my last blog post was all about being in the moment, but it’s not always easy. Sometimes we long for a place where we can’t be. My spring trip home for my friends’ wedding has been the one to make me the most homesick. As I flew into Denver over the beige desert I really pined for the green luscious rolling hills I had just left behind. But plane trips have always been good to have quiet alone time to think.
As someone who has been spoiled by vibrant reds, oranges and
yellows of fall and earlier budding dogwoods and red buds in spring, coming to a
wintery state where the main colors surrounding me over the majority time I've
been here have been brown, white, and grey, has been a difficult transition. I’ve
learned how much I thrive off color and beauty.
But I have had little glimpses of color this year: the
opportune sunsets as I walk home after a long day, casting shades of oranges,
pinks, and purples through the sky and over the mountains making everything
appear to be on fire. The more variant skin tones on bus rides home, darker
tones that make teeth appear the most beautiful white as strangers shyly smile
back at you. The little girl at TGP with her consistent bright pink outfits,
with just enough sass and dance moves to match her bright wardrobe. Rainbows!
Going to a church that supports equality... Clothes! Though there are still a
lot of natural colors, the more urban scene have splashes of color that some
would not be so bold to wear or be able to pull off. But the colors of those
shoes do not overcast those bright personalities and talents. Graffiti on the
sides of buildings, with all the care and time they take. Bright blue skies on cloudless days...
There are more splashes of color in this world of grey, if
you’re looking. I’m ready for the summer to get here, though, to bring warmer
weather and more outdoor adventures. I’m excited about things that are still
coming up, but I’m also really ready to go home. Each “see you later” only gets
harder instead of better with time. When I was younger, I never would have
thought I’d be the type to get homesick, but now there are so many things
calling me home: upcoming marriage, family, friends getting married, the
beauty, green grass and dogwood trees, music, favorite places being sold,
Beaver Lake, and so many things to look forward to.
Both the Rockies and the
Ozarks have very different things to offer, in landscape and activities. It’s
sometimes hard to be torn, to a degree, between two so special worlds. But I
can’t miss the forest for the trees. I have to expand my vision to find the
colors. Look a little further off and see the way the mountains look a bluish
purple under the sky from this distance. I won’t take the warmth for granted,
and I so look forward to the season that brings the budding flowers, as short
as it might be. I’ll go visit the mountains more, now, and I’ll miss them when
I leave. I have made some great friends, ones I hope will keep in touch. I will
have another wonderful place to visit and people to see.
It’s cool though,
that there are so many different places in this world, and just as large of a
variety of people to fill it, to call the different parts home. The same things
that might turn me off of one place, church, person, or activity might be the
very aspects that attract a different person to those same things. We all have
our physical “Beulah Lands,” and it’s not always where we grew up. Sometimes it
takes going away and defining yourself outside of those comfort zones that
really makes you appreciate that coming home. There may be other places that I
call home over the course of my life, but certain ones will always have a
special place in my heart. I think my favorites will always have blue skies,
green hills, folk music, and wildflowers in every color.
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