Tuesday, December 18, 2007

Happy Holidays, One and All!

Hello to my dear friends and readers,

I will be taking a brief hiatus from my blog writing due to the constraints of the Holiday Season, my business, etc. I am presently working on an entry about liminal stages, since I feel I am coming out of one as of late. However, would you agree that the holidays are a bit liminal as well? This is the time of year when we push things on the to-do list to 2008, let bygones be bygones, and busy ourselves with other things for a while - getting ready for the rituals of the season, and the big transition into the New Year. It is a very, very special, almost surreal time of year, no doubt.

I will be back at the beginning of January with more anecdotes about life for us to ponder together. I wish you all the best of the season, whatever your traditions or beliefs. Enjoy the Winter Solstice, and the shortest day of the year! Don't forget to eat some unhealthy food, allow your hugs to last a bit longer than usual, and savor every last moment of 2007. After all, this is the only 2007 we'll ever have.

Peace, Cheers, and Merriment,
Larissa


(I love this photo of my sister in our kitchen, decorating Christmas cookies.)


Tuesday, December 11, 2007

Migrations of My Youth

My husband and I have made some relatively significant transitions in our young lives thus far. Apparently I had a secret yearning to live the life of an Army brat - though my parents are teachers - considering that I have moved all over the country since leaving home after high school. First came Boston, then Moscow, Idaho, then Austin, Texas. I feel fortunate to have sampled so many diverse regions of our great country; I have rubbed elbows with cowboys and cowgirls, Mormons, Mass-holes, hippies, and yuppies. From the East Coast to the Third Coast, I have become well-versed in moving my life around and making big transitions.

What does it mean to move? To migrate? To transition? I have found that it has most often refreshed my spirit and forced my eyes to see new things I may have missed before - about life, people, my country, etc. Any notion of a schedule goes out the window for those days/weeks/months during which you make the transition. It is also a perfect way to break down any semblance of a comfort zone one may have instituted during a settled period.

Likewise, in migrating, I have met many migratory people. These people, including myself I'm sure, seem to view life from a wide-open perspective, allowing people into their lives with ease knowing that to make the time in a certain location memorable, you must "love the one you're with," so to speak. My migrant friends also seem to be very good at staying in touch, perhaps more than my more settled friends do. We are invited to each others' weddings, send each other Holiday cards, and make the occasion phone call just to talk. Oftentimes, I end up speaking with a far-away pal more frequently than one who lives just down the road.

What is an aspect of moving that I am not so fond of? Potential for years of something best expressed in Portuguese: saudade, an amalgamation of longing, nostalgia, homesickness, yearning, particularly in regards to a place one may never return to. I knew that I would return to my roots from time to time, for visits and vacations, but would this place always linger in my heart in such a way? Would I ever be successful in moving back for good? And would it be all that I had hoped an dreamed it would be? For there is a certain romance and mystique surrounding a place for which one might experience saudade. I feared that I might return to this place and find myself wanting to leave again, forever searching, longing, and migrating.

So far, my transition home to Mercersburg, PA, to this place I have longed for, though I cannot always explain why, seems more resolute than others, especially now that we are moved into the farmhouse. It is a rental house, but a house nonetheless, one where we could grow a family, live below our means, and save for the future. There is much promise in this house. Whether my Army brat tendencies will start to itch, only time will tell. For now, I just want to be here, sit in this quiet, spacious house as the world spins around me, walk along horse pastures and watch deer as they watch me, unblinking - let my late 20s be a time to contemplate migrations of the past and the stillness of today.



Ryan and I play with Sadie during our first snow

Our new home!

Monday, December 3, 2007

Tiny Snowflakes in the Air

Hello friends,

Please excuse my brief entry for this week as my husband and I make our move from his parents' house to a farmhouse down the road. We have a lot to sort through and organize, but are very excited to have found such a beautiful place to live. Every window has the most breathtaking view, I just have to stop and stare.

Last night was the first time we slept in the house. The wind howled all night and it was very dark compared to his parents' house in town, so it was a bit of an adjustment. This morning was quiet and peaceful as Ryan and I shared our first breakfast alone together in a long while. We sat at our little, blue kitchen table, drank our coffee and tea, and looked around quietly at our new living space.

I will give you an update next week as we get settled in.

All the best to you all during this Holiday Season!

Larissa