In the summer of 1989 I had worked in Washington state as a firefighter with US Forest Service. I made the trip by driving from the Deep South to way out West. I loved the drive, the scenery, the people, the dawns, and the sunsets.
As a child we moved a fair bit, and I have never quite lost the wander-lust that was instilled in me. Moving brought a sense of loss, leaving friends and familiar surroundings; but it also brought a sense of adventure. I can't thank my folks enough for raising me that way. I still want to roam today.
As an adult, though, my desires to travel and be a free spirit are tempered by the realities of my daily situation have thus far prevented that. In the last two years I uprooted my daughter. She has handled it okay, even though we only moved about a fifteen minute drive from the old place. She changed schools and moved away from the only home she had ever known. She still gets melancholoy at times. The needs of my daughter for stability (or perhaps it is just a desire) and my need need for financial stability have keep me in one place.
This is further complicated by the fact that I want to be close to the NQEW (not-quite-ex-wife). Not that I have any desire to be around her, but that I want my daughter to be able to see her mother. My mother lives about ninety miles away, and while that is not next door, it is close enough that she often helps out as a sitter, when illness strikes, and for family gatherings. I also have my social network here, however limited it is. And my job, which I really enjoy and it pays me well, is here.
So I don't roam much anymore, even though I want to get out and see the world and experience it more than I have for a while. It's time to start planning some weekend getaways, I think.
No comments:
Post a Comment