Homebase

Made it home after two weeks of traveling. It seemed a lot longer. Maybe I was paying more attention to details and living in each moment. The drive back definitely wasn’t as thrilling or eventful, but it gave me time to soak in these past two weeks, especially the small details that I wanted to hold on to.

The absolute silence I heard at the mountains only to be disturbed by a breeze blowing at the trees in the distance. The people that were incredibly patient with all the tourists. The disgruntled look on people’s faces when they were hiking. I couldn’t tell if they were tired or mad, or they just had that type of personality. But as soon as they looked up and saw someone else, the scowl faded away into a smile and a nod of acknowledgement. I probably looked even worse. I hope that I smiled back at them. They were white, most of them were white. Whether it was the people that lived out there or the people visiting. Quite a difference than what I was used to, but it probably took a while for me to notice that. Was that bad? I decided it wasn’t. People are who they are. And I noticed their kindness and their love of nature before I noticed their heritage.

We drove through North Dakota. Not much there. Went to Theodore Roosevelt National Park. Not much there. About a half hour drive through. Not much in Minnesota or Wisconsin either. Maybe there was, but at this point, I was itching to get home, so I didn’t feel like stopping anywhere. Although I thoroughly enjoyed the sunflower fields along the way. And the huge rainbows, one which was a double rainbow. Must admit, it was pretty cool.

Going through the pictures, I was slightly overwhelmed by many how I had. (800 pictures for Glacier alone! Still haven’t posted them, but I will… maybe only 100 or so of them though). It was my poor attempt of trying to capture the feeling out there. Craig did a much better job though. He took amazing pictures. He took a lot of me that I am very thankful for. Those memories I will have because of him. He actually made the trip very enjoyable. We got along very well, surprisingly. I say that because I usually get sick of people that are constantly around, and for two weeks nonetheless. But it was ok with him. And he helped with the driving. We decided to split up the driving evenly, but I won’t lie, he did most of it. And he kept my road rage calm when I drove. And he kept me safe from bears. One night I confessed that I was scared of the bears and he says “it’s ok, you got me.” And he flexed his arms. And although I knew he couldn’t really take on a bear, it made me feel safer and calmed my nerves a bit. I let out a nervous laugh, but it was a real laugh too. And it was a lot of little things like that that made these past few weeks enjoyable and as wonderful as it was. And I thank him for that.

More memories… the glaciers. The melting glaciers. How people are freaked out about them melting. That’s what they do. That’s how those mountains were formed. As the sign in Rae’s office at work says, “pull up your big girl panties and deal with it”. Don’t stop it from melting if that’s what it’s going to do. What else? The huckleberries. Oh, the huckleberries. Or any type of fruit for that matter, but especially the huckleberries. The fruit had such flavor. It must’ve been local. Even the beef, and the bison. Everything is more delicious out there. More flavorful, more real. It makes even the organic stores around here seem inadequate. Thank goodness my mother makes delicious food. I’ll learn one day.

I have to admit, I miss my family. I couldn’t wait to see them and share these past two weeks with them. And the huckleberry flavored things I brought with me. Yes, I’m obsessed. I went to my sister’s house for most of the time. I was pleasantly surprised at how well we got along. Was I more relaxed? Was she? It seemed like we both didn’t have a care in the world. It made for a good time. It’ll make me miss her even more. I went to my nephew’s soccer game. He’s a freshman in high school now. Wow. A long way from his games when they looked like bees buzzing over a hive merely trying to kick the ball in one direction. Now there was passing, planning, heading, faking… a real game. I miss being a part of their lives too. Sigh… I’m the aunt from Chicago. Well it’s a little better now. I’m the crazy aunt that’s going everywhere.