I have come to love this land in Southern Oregon. With it's grand peaks and deep valley's. It is the perfect mirror of this year. Grand peaks followed by deep valleys. Straight up then immediately down. It sure kept me on my toes. Then again, what's so great about being on my toes? I'm not a boxer! In Chinese Medicine they say how sadness is an important part of happiness. How they are opposite sides of the same coin. And how too much joy can create dissatisfaction. Weird huh? Personally I'd like to take my chances with too much happiness.
Looking down at the earth from so high above makes my mind wander. Everything looks so small from up here, and oddly neat and tidy. It looks like a little train set. Maybe that is the allure to creating those miniature worlds. As that last thought leaves my head, suddenly like a waterfall, I'm flooded with random memories. Pictures, moments, faces, places, dates, phrases, laughter, tears, defeat, triumph, a touch, a word, a look, a feeling. They all race through me with rapid succession. The memories hang in the air like thick fog. I close my eyes and inhale a deep breath. On the exhale I tell myself to let go. Opening my eyes to the sensation of things slowly drifting away into the atmosphere between my ears.
The plane is only half full. The stewardess is a man. Maybe they're called stewards? He has a kind of southern charm, mixed with a bit of east coast wit. I notice him chatting with the woman sitting in the first row. I think that I recognize the woman, she looks like someone I've seen in Ashland. But the reality is that the longer I live in Ashland, the more I think I know everyone! It's an odd small town phenomenon. Or maybe it's just me.
The moon is rising full and bright over the mountaintops. It's an indescribable beauty that brings my mind to a stop. I look across the isle to peer out the little oval window to see the end of the sunset. It's breathtaking to see the sun and moon gazing across the sky at each other. With me, here in the middle. Makes me wish I was on a broom!
The fog of memories has begun to clear and I feel some thing that seems like joy bubbling up inside. Returning to my hometown is always a unique experience. Just twelve more hours and I will be in South Florida. I'm going home. Home to my parents, my friends, my old life, the beaches, the sunshine, the warm air, they are all waiting for me there. Like your favorite pair of jeans in the back of the closet. Makes me wonder if they still fit? Is it true what they say, that you can't go home? Well, I'm not so sure I care anymore what "they" say. I'm just anxious to find out if that Florida girl I love so much, still fits like my favorite jeans.
