2 posts tagged “august 2007”

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The Land of Enchantment

Aug 24, 2007

I went home the weekend before last to surprise my wee sibling on her birthday!

This is only a re-enactment of her surprise.

In truth, my dad picked me up at the airport, took me to the Frontier for breakfast, and then we had a dual-cell-phone assault when we arrived at my mom's house. I called the sister because I "heard she was sick"; my dad called her to have her come see the new car (a shiny new Prius! Silver moon pine mica light heaven colored.) In her befuddled state (we woke her up), she didn't quite understand what was going on when she heard my voice in stereo and looked totally terrified to see me sitting in the front lawn. I WIN AT SURPRISING.

Somewhere over the New Mexico.

I took lots of pictures of my handsome pets (click picture to see the rest):

NM Pets--August 2007

And lots of pictures of the National Hispanic Cultural Center (click to see more):

National Hispanic Cultural Center Photos

It was a good time to go out there. I got to hold my sister's hand through some stuff that I assume is pretty tough. Helped my mom move to her new and much improved job--out of the school I moved her into some 13 years ago or something crazy like that. I helped my dad and Tia take pictures of a dance studio. That brought back some wacky memories of my dance life in New Mexico and a big rush of relief that dancing isn't defined by my studio any longer. In fact, it's not defined by anybody really, least of all me.

For many years I wanted to maintain my New Mexico driver's license out of a sense of stubborn pride. I finally got over that, not because I'm over New Mexico but because it makes sense to have the proper driver's license, and since I don't really drive any more, it doesn't matter much anyway.

Awkward moments happen after moving away from the place that created you. Momentarily forgetting which way to turn on streets I knew better than anyone.

Water

I am reconciling the love of two places. Going back to New Mexico after realizing that I love Minneapolis felt like seeing an old best friend after making new ones. I'm learning to thrive with the noise of the city instead of the quiet of a distant horizon. I think other people suffered this early in college, but I'm slow. I feel a pressing need to spend long stretches of time in New Mexico. I have never been away from home for so long (eight months), and now that I have a job, every return is too short, too far between, and too expensive. I want to go home for three months, spend a week in the mountains by myself, take naps with my kitty. I have to work twice as hard to keep in touch with my family and friends there, but it's not an onerous task. It's good to have two places. I just wish there were cheap flights between them.