Coming Home

[krikketgirl]

I was a little worried about coming home after our long trip. To understand, you have to know that I spent some time in Wyoming and Utah growing up, and I love the scenery of the west. You can keep your beaches and palm trees: I love the smell of sagebrush, the sound of the wind, the dusty ground, the scrubby trees, the rocks and cliffs, the flat land jutting in spots up to jagged mountains that seem to have just been dropped there. I love how close the stars look, the impossible blue of the sky that looks like a stage backdrop. I love the unexpected tumbling sound of rivers and the dry air.

A lot of that translated up to the Yukon and Alaska, too--though of course they're somewhat different from the west of my youth--so I was a little worried that I should be sad to be Back Home Again in Indiana.

Not so, I was glad to realize. The beauty of the west, though dear to my heart, is also somewhat demanding. It is a harsh-looking environment, beautiful but with an edge to it. As our plane circled over Indiana, though, I looked out and saw stretching farm fields, their square shapes gentle on the landscape. I saw land that rolled only gently, like a green bed that had been made a little carelessly. When I stepped into my little green front yard that I never water, and listened to the cicada song fill the saturated air, it felt comfortable. No more of the stillness at night, with no sign of anything near.

If the Yukon, Alaska, and the western U.S. are "get your horses and let's head off for adventure," then Indiana and the midwest states are "have a cup of coffee and sit here at the table and tell me all about everything." I am so fortunate to get to experience both.

Comments

[kiwiria.livejournal.com]

That was a very beautiful and descriptive way to describe (ehhh...) the places to somebody who's been to neither. Thank you.

[krikketgirl.livejournal.com]

Well, I'll have pictures of Alaska/the Yukon soon, so you can see a little bit! : )

[kiwiria.livejournal.com]

Looking forward to it! :) Thanks.

[chestnutcurls.livejournal.com]

:) This was nice to read. Welcome home!

[krikketgirl.livejournal.com]

Thanks, Brenda!

[mattiescottage.livejournal.com]

Thank you SO MUCH for the affirmation! You've put it so well:

"The beauty of the west, though dear to my heart, is also somewhat demanding. It is a harsh-looking environment, beautiful but with an edge to it. . . . Indiana and the midwest states are 'have a cup of coffee and sit here at the table and tell me all about everything.'"

Mountains are beautiful, but constraining to sight and motion. The plains are free and easy. The horizon is open. You can see what is coming. Maybe that isn't so adventuresome, but it is more peaceful.

[krikketgirl.livejournal.com]

Just so. Of course, I am also one of the only people I know who finds the lush tropical colors and foliage of Hawaii to be threatening and sinister. : D

[bojojoti.livejournal.com]

I so enjoy visiting the Rockies. They take one's breath away with their majesty. However, after about a week in the mountains, my eyes feel frustrated that the view is blocked. As we drive home, and the mountains melt into pastures and farm land, I feel this sense of contentment that everything is now as it should be--open and free.

[mattiescottage.livejournal.com]

Amen. :-)

[singersdd.livejournal.com]

This Hoosier native thinks you described it just right. :)

Welcome home, weary traveler.

[elvenjaneite.livejournal.com]

You know, I've gotten so many "But why did you move back?" questions, with the distinct undertone of "Are you crazy?" I just always smile and say that the West wasn't home, which is the truth. I could go on and say that when I'm here I know that this kind of land is the land of my heart. I could say that it actually reminds me quite a bit of parts of England...the lushness, the fields, the incredible blue of the sky.

I love mountains too, but my favorite range are the Appalachians. What can I say? I like gentle beauty.

[krikketgirl.livejournal.com]

: )

I think the weird thing for me is that--having lived all over the place--everywhere and nowhere feels like "home," if that makes sense. I love road trips because you see all the facets of beauty our country has to offer.

[elvenjaneite.livejournal.com]

Oh, don't get me wrong, I love visiting! When I lived in Oregon, it just felt like I was visiting...for four years. :) (As a concrete example, the margarine and butter sticks are different dimensions than they are here.)

[bojojoti.livejournal.com]

I'm always excited to travel, and I avidly drink in the beauty and the strangeness of new places. But the prairie and wide open spaces feels "right" and comfortable to me.

[mewsing.livejournal.com]

Nothing compares to my Blue Ridge Mountains. I miss them so.

[ruthette.livejournal.com]

Can't WAIT for next summer's road trip!