It’s funny when you live so far away from where you grew up.
When you’re so far away from family and so far away from friends who you knew
you when nothing much beyond Saturday morning cartoons, riding bikes, and
playing driveway basketball mattered. It’s funny when you have to think in thousands of miles when you think of
being home again. And it’s funny – not really “haha” funny – but odd when you find that your heart and
mind are still there even though your body is so obviously present somewhere
else. It almost makes me laugh when lucid dreams take me back to being 13 years
old and – I swear – I can touch and feel him again, like he’s really there next to me in Grand Blanc,
Michigan, but then I wake up somewhere else where I can’t even speak the
language.
Then again, where and what is “home” anyway? They say it is
where the heart is, but what of those who have had their heart split in two? What
of all those D4 dopamine receptors and DRD4-7Rs running amok out
there? The penetrance of 7R/long alleles coursing through us for 40,000 years and
counting. This is the gift of my great- great- great- great- great- great- (ad
nauseam) grandmother. Thanks, grandma.
That said, I make the most of finding new inspirations where
I can in my current home. Meeting new people, consuming previously-unspoken
thoughts, digesting new sunsets, and swimming in new seas of emotion. Below is
a random assortment of recent inspirations worth sharing.
Say Uncle
I am an uncle. Twice now (soon to be thrice). I often wonder
if I am a good uncle. I tell myself that I am, but there really isn’t an
assessment out there to gauge my performance, so who knows. I try to send gifts
and make calls to bridge those 3,800 miles, but I know that won’t be enough as
they get older.
My niece is beautiful. She reminds me that there are so many
little things in life to be excited about, like Hello Kitty. I love that her
smile has the power to take me back to 1990 and make me a kid again. Every time
I see her laugh I see my brother as a child again. My big brother and I
laughing about something of no consequence, but laughing with our entire being,
laughing with our entire souls.
Sir Edward Blue Eyes
My nephew is less than a year old, too young to know who I
am yet, I suppose, but I hope that changes soon. I look forward to him enlightening
me some day in the future about the challenges that kids his age face – how different
will his struggle be from those of my day? How similar will they be?
Suesca
How is it that the skies here seem just a bit higher, or that
much bluer? I guess two straight weeks of rain and clouds in Bogota can make
the skies anywhere else pop.
Serious cirrus
I am the son/sun, and the heir/air
Full Figures
Well rounded
Medellin native, Fernando Botero, made a name for himself
depicting the fuller side of life, yet as I walk the streets of Medellin I
wonder from where he drew his inspiration. Is fullness happiness? Have we
starved ourselves of life? How often have we denied ourselves happiness,
fasting with devout piety and confusing our obedience for some sort of greater
nobility? Or, is it simply that bigger is better? Either way, some girls are bigger than others.
Hips don't lie
Adam and Eve
Why do they have belly buttons? Think about it
Where is my mind?
Bootylicious
Villa de Nuestra Señora de la Candelaria de Medellín
