Home is wherever I am

Korrin B.

August 21, 2010 - 8:00 PM

I wasn't sure at first whether I should really title this post "Home." For each of the past three summers, I have traveled somewhere new and created a sense of home in whatever location I was. When I'm back on the West Coast, I have four years of life accumulated in the cozy city of Eugene, as well as my life's history resting in the coastal fog of Northern California. So, what have I concluded? Home is wherever I am. Home is a place you can return to. Greece, New York, and Georgia are all homes to me because I know them; I have grounding in each of them. However, right now I am back in the Pacific Northwest. It is my home. It is a place I have returned to time and time again. It always takes me back, wraps me with familiarity, and comforts me as I plan the next leg of the journey. So, as the title would suggest, I am home.

It is always a bit tough to get used to everything again. I'm starting to see familiar faces and return to favorite eateries. I'm working tirelessly at ridding my house of the cobweb buildup it experienced while I was gone. Oh, and I'm starting to remember that I was supposed to be working on my thesis this summer. I'm sure this will be discussed in my blog at length at a later date. Procrastination is key...right? Ok, maybe not, but I feel a need to get re-nestled into the fourth floor of the Knight Library before I can start getting some real work done on it again.

Although I find myself with a mild nostalgia for that southern humidity, when I stepped off my plane in the Eugene airport, I was filled with gratitude as I took a deep breath of crisp, Pacific Northwest air. It was a perfect temperature, somewhere around 78 to 80 degrees with a tender breeze and as I walked, I no longer felt like I could feel every inch of air for it was light and free of the dense humidity I had grown to know. However, a little more unexpected was the lightning storm I was welcomed by. It was as if the South was calling me back as I watched lightning in the hills light up the darkening sky.

I have just finished my first full week back and it has certainly been great getting to see my friends again and getting to enjoy this absolutely perfect weather. I have never really spent a summer in Eugene before, so it is very nice to be here for some of it. I have a feeling though that I need to enjoy this downtime while it lasts because come fall term, I can already tell that I'm going to have to hit the ground running.

Right now, I'm hanging around visiting with a friend before she leaves to graduate school in Boston and then it is time to go home once again and see all my family in California. It is good to be back. Different, but certainly nice.