People, Places and Things

Ontario, CA
Memories of the distant past made new.

So many people, places, things ...

Yet, it's that sense of time and place that follows me like a shadow. Maybe it would be more accurate to say that the time and place I find myself in, is never the one at which I'm physically present, rather the one tucked away somewhere in my mind; I idealize that which I cannot touch. Please tell me if any of what I've said makes sense, or if I'm alone in this restlessness.

Arbol de Aguacate

My recent trip home revealed some familiar places and things that I'd either legitimately forgotten or had never truly seen. Such as a landscape flanked by majestic snow-capped mountains and a crystal blue sea. Lush green hillsides dotted by goats, cows and sheep. Seedlings I'd played around as a child that, now, reached for the sky with leaf-like fingers, yielding fruit for my son's small hands. Yes, I was about that age.

Then there were those sights, sounds, smells and embraces that brought forth memories a little brighter, louder and fragrant than the others.  Como mi pan dulce y agua de tamarindo. A slice of homemade flan at six a.m. My mother, brother, beautiful sister and childhood friends.

Ironic isn't it that the one place we dream and hope to someday leave to grow, is the very one that so many years later, you can't wait to see.