aroraborealis

The house I grew up in was never locked. In fact, though the front door could lock, we didn't have a key for it, and the side door didn't have a lock at all. We left the car keys in the ignition when parked at home, though, as a nod to security, typically we would leave them in the console when parked somewhere in town.

My parents built and moved into a new house a couple of years ago, and this house has locks on the doors, but of course, it's still never locked.

Except, when I arrived this time, there was a key in the lock of the front door. On the outside. Just hanging there, somewhat mysteriously.

What gives?

It turns out that my parents' dog is able to open the door and let himself out, so sometimes they lock the door to keep the dog in.

Welcome home!

From an email from my father:

Whatever else happens tomorrow, during which I was scheduled to fly back to Boston, I will not be flying back to Boston, as that flight has been cancelled.

If I'm lucky, I'll be able not to leave JH until Monday morning, rather than spending tomorrow night pointlessly in Denver.

On second thought, I'll just stay in Wilson tonight and drive to Idaho Falls tomorrow to collect a contessagrrl!

So, I'm back from the wilds of Wyoming! It was a great trip, as usual, this time with the additional awesome of having contessagrrl with us for part of my time there. I utterly adore sharing my home town with people in my current life, and it was extra fun to get to do it in the wintertime, since most people decide to vacation in Wyoming in the summer (and who can blame them, really?)

While I was there, I:

*saw loads of people who've known me since I was a baby
*took a wagon ride on the elk refuge
*took a sleigh ride to feed some cows and horses
*got snow in my shoes climbing up a hill to a bonfire
*saw more stars than we ever see in the city
*convinced my sister-in-law's dog that I'm nice
*failed to sleep nearly as much as I would have liked
*saw the beginnings of my parents' new house!
*felt both part of and apart from the community I grew up part of
*fantasized about never having to go back to work
*thought about all the people I want to bring to visit

I hope to write more about some of those things later in the week.

I feel good. Like, rich and full of goodness. But in a curiously nostalgic way.

The theme of this trip home feels related to community, longevity, and cycles. I've seen many people who I haven't seen in many years, but who have known me since I was a baby, and it makes me want to know the babies of my friends when they're adults and out in the world doing interesting things. I have a great community in Boston, but I'm continually thinking about where I'm going next. But this trip is making me think that I should consider more seriously what I have already built where I am, and how meaningful it is to me to have the connections I have. Even in the bay area, I would be doing a lot of starting anew to move there now, especially compared to Boston.

Tonight, we had dinner at the home of friends of the family who had their first date at my parents' house when I was a toddler, and whose kids my brother babysat and are now traveling the world, and saw people I haven't seen in ages and ages, and had great food and entertaining conversation and just generally felt really good. I love that, and how I feel in the midst of it, and as part of it, that I'm contributing to it, too, not just feeding off it, and it's just great. It makes me want to create (or continue creating) my own traditions, to build (or keep building) a community that connects hundreds of people to each other. But not in one big, amorphous clump so much as in lots of little overlapping circles.

Tonight, I saw people who I haven't seen in 15 years or more, because our families are friendly but not friends, and it was such a pleasure to see them, even though they're not in my day-to-day thoughts, but just... it's good to know they're out in the world, doing whatever it is that they're doing.

Jackson Hole is a weird place right now, deep in transition from old time ranching hippie town to destination resort. Land is wicked expensive, and what was here last week may or may not be tomorrow, so the sense of continuity I have from the people is so meaningful to me. And it sure makes the value of community and continuity clear.

Note to self: it's best to avoid talk of politics with wingnuts.

Note to self, addendum: saying you're getting a degree in public policy seems to be an invitation to talk about politics. This will probably be true of saying you have a degree in public policy, too.

Highlight line of the evening: "Well, socialism... that's just theft!"

Actually, though, it was good to catch up with the neighbors! Most of them are my kind of wingnut.