Locals for Now

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!