My daughter graduated from Indiana University in May, so I came home to Indianapolis to be with her and celebrate her accomplishments!! My baby graduated and I still feel like I’m 25 in my head... LOL! In a blink of an eye...
I was trying to pay attention to how I was feeling back in a City where I had been deeply invested prior to my adventures. The day I arrived home was overcast and rainy - a severe contrast to the sunshine in Kona, and I felt flat. Jet lag may have played into my somber mood a bit, but I noted the flatness.
I entered the house that used to be my house to do some laundry and collect some belongings. All of my stuff was in storage in the basement, and my cat came as part of the deal for the tenant. I was really excited to see my cat, Alfie as I missed his quirky personality.
He hissed at me.
The cat hissed at me not just once, but the entire time I was in the house. He actually came up and rubbed up against my leg as he was hissing. I reached down to pet him and quickly drew back my hand. He would have eaten it. His ears were laid back on his neck and his eyes glaring. He sat 4’ away from me and just hissed. I have never see anything like it. He was SO PISSED at me...... Good heavens....
I attempted to make myself feel better about the cat rejection and accomplish something, so I dropped my dirty clothes into the laundry (he sat there and hissed watching me). I tried to find a couple of things in the stack of boxes that I wanted to take with me on the next leg of my journey - my head lamp, a different phone charging cord and denture cleaner for my mouth guard - important stuff - LOL!
I found most of it pretty easily and then walked over to my hanging clothes and remembered that I liked my clothes. I ran my hands along the top of the dresses wondering which ones I should take with me during my two week stay and began to feel tension mounting - there were toooo many choices...
I had been gone for almost 4 months with only a backpack, day pack and purse in tow. The pack weighed 22 lbs. and held all of the clothes I’d worn over and over again. No one seem to notice. Nor care.
I looked around and saw all of my stuff boxed up around me and wondered what was in all of those boxes. What was it that I really needed? “Not much” was the answer that rattled in my head. I had to take leave of the basement and all of the stuff and exit the home as I was feeling a bit overwhelmed. The simplicity of my travels and the experiences were making more of an impact than I realized...
But the next day was different - the sun was shining! I had to stop in at the house that was no longer my house to pick up a few more clothes that I failed to gather the prior day. And I am excited to report that the cat didn’t hiss at me, but merely sat 4’ away from me and glared.
I reunited with my bikes and hopped on my trusty 20 year old Nishiki (happy dance!!!!) and rode the familiar route downtown to my ole’ stomping grounds where a yoga class was scheduled. The ride was glorious as springtime in Indiana is filled with the fragrance and colors of lavender lilacs, rosy viburnum, large magnolia blooms and pale crabapple blossoms! The rainbow of tulips and grape hyacinths create mosaics of color along the trail nestled under the glorious redbud trees! And then there’s the young springtime grass which is bursting, vibrant and a fresh green color that I swear is vastly different from the hot, dry, barely hanging on green found in the heat of summer. I slowed way down to suck in the glorious Indiana spring!
After class I sat and had a cup of coffee with friends and got energized by the conversation about the increasing efforts and education being done around racism in Indianapolis. It lit a fire in me as I remembered what I was working on before I left and what remained to be done... A passionate friend saw me from across the coffee shop and swooped in for a hug. She told me about the grant application she had submitted to the Arts Commission which she would use to develop a unique program that blended yoga and theatre which was designed for the trans community and could be used across the State and beyond.
My two weeks have been jammed meeting with family and friends over breakfast, lunches, dinners, celebrations and bike rides which was a testament and a reminder of how many creative and caring people are in Indianapolis... I do love this City! Re-entry is usually really hard for me after long travels to third world countries, but it was different this time. I’m not sure if it’s because I had an easier re-entry by staying on the laid back side of the big island of Hawaii, or because I didn’t drop back into a work mode or because I knew I as going to leave again....
All I know is that I love the people in this City... Lucky, lucky me.