We seem to have hit another rainy patch here the last few days and we encountered our first storm that was windy enough to shake the RV. Pretty interesting feeling, but nothing compared to going through hurricanes.
Two things that we have enjoyed since coming to Texas are the scenery:
and BBQ'ing:
I love being able to travel and seeing new things and meeting new people but I love just hanging out and soaking it in as well. We are not merely traveling in the same ways we used to when vacationing, we get to live in each and every place and that's a different thing than being merely tourists or travelers. It just has a different feel than when you pass through on your way back and forth to "home". For us, this is home. Next week, someplace else will be home. And I never thought that part would be such a wonderful thing.
I hadn't fully pondered all of that until we hit the local library, and asked if there was any way we could get a library card here so Austin could check out books on tape and guitar songbooks instead of just sitting and reading while at the library. The librarian asked if we were local and I said, yes...for now. She asked to see a Texas driver's license and I explained that I did not have one but how and why I still considered myself a local for the next few weeks at least. She finally said if I could prove that I am receiving my mail here, that she'd give me a card. I am getting my mail here so I went home to get the proof and she graciously gave us two cards when I returned.
I've been pondering since how I've heard the phrase "citizen of the world" and while it is cliche,
I have a better understanding of what that means-to us at least-now that we are living this way. We don't have attachments in the same way to a specific place so we seem to instead be shifting to a place where we are attached to this world being our home. We seem to be gaining a new appreciation for that and a new understanding of the responsibility involved in that. I really can't put it into words more than that; I just know this has changed us and that was one lesson I didn't expect to learn along the way.
I've also noticed that all of us, teens included, have a different awareness of our space in this world. Of how much we consume in every day ways. It's impossible not to be aware when you have to attend to every aspect of the reality of consumption and waste and deal with it rather than having it be someone elses problem. We do all of the dirty work so we know
this equals
this. It's pretty cool actually. Another unexpected gift.
So, as this bench down at the lake says, I hope we remember that while we do try to live this way:
...we also hope to remember to cherish our gift in a way that doesn't rob others of the same opportunity to enjoy the same gift when they pass through. I want to continue to live as citizens of the world instead of only worrying about what we can enjoy while we are passing through. We always were only passing through in some way, shape and form-we just weren't very aware of that fact before we lived this way. It's ironic to me that in living a life of passing through we have become more aware of how much we don't have to live our lives that way though, no matter what our journey.
I also love it when life seems to be meandering along in the most deliciously lazy feeling way and all the while you are growing in big ways and didn't even notice it. It's like backing up to the doorpost and measuring yourself and realizing you grew inches when you would have guessed millimeters. I especially love it when I realize that has happened with our children and we were merely co-attendants in the process. As any parent knows, it doesn't always work that way so it's an unexpected gift to me when it does. And as I'm sure you've figured out after reading this post-I love unexpected gifts.
Living the life in beautiful Texas and loving being a local for now!
If you are in Houston, we recommend visiting the Holocaust Museum Education Center and Memorial. 
As we were standing in the garden, Austin asked me why I make him visit places like this because he feels so sad after being there.
So we spent some time talking about why I find it important to do so, even though I know he will feel sad-as will I.
We talked about what happened and how it happened and what we think about it and I pointed out that we can't change the past.
What is important to me in sharing the past with him, beyond the fact I think it's important to honor those involved, is that I hope it spurs a desire in him to not turn a blind eye to the atrocities that are happening now in Darfur and other such places and reminded him how we have done some very modest things to help victims of hatred through this organization: The Invisible Children and how good it is to know that people helping made a difference in Uganda.
I told him it is likely that some day there will be a museum in remembrance of those victims and when his children and grandchildren ask, "How did this happen?" as he had with me that day, I hoped he had an answer that he was at peace with personally for his part in what is happening today. 
We have a chance to make a difference today so that his answer and mine and yours can be something other than, "We didn't know". 
We live in a different time period where we can know. And we can help because we do know.
When you know better, you can do better. We know better. 
I want to do better and I hope he does too, especially after today.
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