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november 26, 2023 // everywhere
i'm simultaneously working on so many essays at once, it's going to end up a cluttered house around my brain if i keep going like this. things are moving too fast and too slow at the same time. this is my way of taking a breath, at least through this screen—i appreciate your indulgence.
i find myself, on any given day, daydreaming (if only for a moment) about the memories i shared with my love in italy. though we are still settling into our new home in the cold weather of washington, once a wistful, romanticized anticipation in sunny california a few months ago; it now makes me instead yearn for the days of sweat and sunburn along the sicilian coast—a surprise, i'm sure. i see those memories when we're cuddled in front of the fireplace, thinking of the boardwalks of santa cruz, winning a stuffed seagull by teaming up and defeating the cursed enemy (was it a whack-a-mole?) together. there's talk of a norway trip next autumn, but that would be a large group trip, one that would put me a bit out of my element. i'd like to traverse japan within the next couple of years, but we're saving for a house. that means our international endeavors might be a bit farther in-between some of these smaller, domestic trips that are promised to the future.
time is relative, and moving felt fast; going up the california coast in our u-haul felt hare-brained in the moment, despite us weighing the options deliberately and thoughtfully. as i try to slow things down in my life, i'd like to think that it's due to one new addition that comes in with four legs: a seventeen-pound, two-year-old dog we can't get enough of, a black-and-white ball of energy that keeps us on our toes. the shelter named him trevor; we named him pepper. he's already traveled with us to north carolina, and he was calm and unbothered on the plane. he might be on more adventures with us in the future as long as the flight isn't too far.
we transitioned into the holiday season unsure if we would visit either of our families, this now being the second year of us being together without doing so. i'm determined to take him on a food tour of memphis, sharing real barbecue with him and teaching him about honey gold hot wings; the foods i dream of when i'm searching for comfort food nearby. we will go, one day, but this year, we're saving ourselves the stress after such a long move from san francisco to seattle. we're almost three months in, so soon it will feel like we're finished. we're still figuring out our home aesthetic that isn't dependent upon buying a bunch of new things.
i can feel it, though. when i feel myself too repetitive, too predictable, i feel the itch again. to move, to change places, to see somewhere i've never been. the lovely part about moving to washington is those places are pretty close in reach, for now; i just won't yet think of once those places have been explored enough to my brain's liking. ▮