Back to school? Not so much...

Yesterday, as I was walking over to the Nehalem House in the morning, I could sense that the summer was on its way out, and that autumn was creeping in, covertly in some parts of the country, overtly in others. Fall is my favorite season for a number of reasons, so the prospect of summer ending doesn't have me too upset. I love the brisk-but-not-too-cold weather, the transformation of the trees from green to gold and orange and maroon, apple-picking and pie-making, Halloween and Thanksgiving. But another thing I really love about Fall is that it means school is starting up again -- new classes, fresh text books, and a reunion with all those people whom I've missed during the summer months. When I was walking yesterday morning, I had a profound sense of saddness, a sense of "loss," that such a reunion at the end of the summer is no longer inevitable. We're done. We're graduated. That's it. There's no longer a mutual point where we will all congregate come late August. Instead, we are scattered about here and there, everywhere.

This time last year, I was moving into the Hull St House. I remember Sam slept on the living room floor on his big inflatable mattress because I didn't want to be alone. I was finishing up my time at Russell Orchards, squeezing in a few more trips to the beach, and getting mentally ready for classes again. I remember when Devon and Lex and Bethany and Ray came, how our stuff was everywhere, and Devon and I kept rearranging the living room furniture over and over again. And I remember watching an entire season of Lost in about two sittings. Hilarious memories (and bittersweet ones) from the Hull St House.

Fall has always been a season of change. The warm weather packs up and heads south, the cold weather slowly moves in. Out come the jeans and sweaters. The landscape changes, the crops are harvested. But for the last four years, fall meant continuity, heading back home to Gordon to live once again with friends. This year, fall really will mean change. It's times like these that help me remember what I am thankful for, for all the memories made and friendships crafted over the years. Of course, there was a time when Gordon was new, foriegn. And it soon became home. And there was a time when Portland was foriegn, when l'Arche was foriegn.

We all ease into our environments over time...I haven't lived in the same bed for more than a year since I was in highschool. Just in the past few months, I've moved from my room in Evans during last summer to the Hull St House to home in VA to Romania to Hull St again to VA again to Portland, and now back to VA. All this moving and transition makes me feel like a nomad. Just this summer, I lived three days at one house, two days at the next, two days at Jacob's. Here there and everywhere.

Though I am indeed not going back to school this August (in fact, it's already started for most), it is a relief not to be back in class and over-involved in this or that activity. I have slept more this summer than all my years in college combined. I have been able to read at my own place, learn through experience, and see another part of the country. It will be good to have this time away before heading back in to school come next fall.

Random note to self: buy the new Outkast cd. Jordan (Jacob's cousin) is playing it outside my door and I'm enjoying it immensely.

On that random note, I'm out. Time to chill with the folks.