Hello Austin!

We’ve been back in Austin now a little over a week but it doesn’t seem that long. I’ve forgotten how much work is involved in settling into a new place. It’s strange being back here, but not in a bad way. It feels both new and old. It really doesn’t seem like the same city I left three years ago, and I can’t really say why. I don’t think Austin has changed that much, but I HAVE. And that is the tritely profound thing that people tell you over and over about repatriation. But it seems to me that if I look at the changes that have taken place in my psyche and embrace and enjoy them they won’t be harmful to me or those around me. I don’t expect others to have changed in the same way, or even at all. I don’t expect that people will understand what I have experienced; how could they – they haven’t experienced it!

So it’s the little things about returning that have surprised me so far. I forgot how pretty Austin is. Hilly and green, even after the drought they had this winter. Austin is full of green spaces, places to hike and run, even in the middle of the city. Friendly people that talk to strangers (I’m a little un-nerved by this now, when just a few years ago I used to do the same thing!).

The other thing is I really don’t have time right now to be sad. There is so much work to do to get the house ready so that we can move into it when the time comes. Cleaning, painting, carpeting, landscaping…..I don’t see how we will accomplish it all but Lee keeps assuring me that all will be well.

I’ve also decided that I can’t keep saying that we are “living in Austin for now” or “we’re fixing up the house so that we can move into it or sell it”. There is no telling how long it will take for Lee to find another position in 3M or where that job will be when he finds it. So as much as it’s possible, I’m just going to quit thinking about it. We’re fixing the house up to move into it. We’ve moved to Austin. That’s it until it’s not anymore!

As far as this blog goes, well it seems a bit in disarray, even though I have a plan for it. Eventually I will get pictures posted and especially get the entries from our last Asian vacation up here. It may seem funny to start my Austin blog at the end of our journey through Asia, but it just seems right to me. Part of beginning a new journey is completing the old one, so I’m going to start the new with the old and employ a time-old literary tradition – the flashback!