Last night I was nostalgic for thunderstorms. They came as I slept. I didn't hear them. I was dreaming of lions.
Today the clouds show their new white in glimpses. Thick bright clouds roll over them in waves.
Here in the gym the air is cold. I breathe it in. Without my glasses, the class is a blur of black shapes against yellow. They are little windmills, jacks, black birds. They hop and turn in a loose unison, little bare feet slap the cold floor. Testing today. I watch Orion prepare himself, going through motions with the wobbly grace unique to nine year old boys. He must contend with a center of gravity that changes from week to week, confusing his muscle memory until it 
scratches its head and sits this one out.
scratches its head and sits this one out. Orion will have to rely on concentration tonight.
I'm a little nervous for him. But then, we've prepared, practiced, increased his chance of success.
I embrace the cold air. I feel it rise up from the floor, blow gently past. The gym isn't heated. Finally I can admit I've fallen in love with this desert. But I could leave it, for a while at least, for some place with seasons.
Some place with thunderstorms.
I'm nostalgic for thunderstorms.
As much as I love this desert, it may never be home.
Orion has traded his white belt for a yellow one.
3 comments:
I wouldn't want to live in the desert. But, when my husband and I lived in California, we had to make several trips to the desert to get our bearings. Time away from the city, people, bad air, emotions. We'd walk through the tumbleweeds and hard ground. Delight in a tucked away creek or small body of water. It's amazing how a place like the desert would re focus us.
Now, we both yearn for it. Just to spend a few hours.
When I was a small child, we lived in western PA. I'm sure that's where my love of mountains came from. But we went back this past weekend, and I discovered that, for all of the similarities, northern mountains are not quite the same as southern mountains.
I think that it is possible for somewhere to be home/not home at the same time. I wish you more of the "home".
Congratulations to Orion on the promotion! I hope he continues to enjoy it. Alia started taekwondo at 8 1/2, and she's kept with it now for 4.5 years. She's a belt away from her black belt. Last Fall Catherine and I started, when Alia's teacher decided to offer a class for the parents. It'll take us a lot longer to progress than it did Alia, I expect...
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