Home

A few weeks ago, I spent a week at home in Pennsylvania and it was awesome. For the past three years, whenever I’ve gone home, it’s been for an event, such as a holiday or a graduation, which means lots of running around. That’s fun, but I wanted to spend some time back home without any big plans, so that’s what I did. I got to see my sister on her birthday, visit my grandparents, spend some time with our cats, eat lunch at Dilly’s and dinner in Doylestown, hang out with a vertically gifted friend, hike along the Delaware Canal, and see a bunch of family for a dinner at our house.

They* say that you don’t know what you have until it’s gone, and that’s true. Like lightning bugs. Such a small thing, but they don’t have them where I live in California. In fact, they don’t even have lightning. Well, while I was home I got to ride through a passing thunderstorm and then 20 minutes later find myself sitting out on a balcony on a beautiful afternoon. And man, Beah is right. Pennsylvania is green. That’s really the first thing I noticed on the drive home from the airport. Big yards full of green grass. When I first stepped out onto our patio, I felt like I was in a rainforest. The humidity certainly helped add to this feeling, but the plants were really doing well this year thanks to the rain.

The nature theme continued when we walked along the Delaware Canal’s towpath, where within about an hour or so we saw a deer, a bunch of turtles hanging out on a log, a big snapping turtle, a blue heron, and some ducks.

Sitting outside at night, I really noticed how much of a luxury the quietness of the country is. I’m so used to hearing my neighbors coming in and out of their apartments, plus the traffic, trains, and planes that I could actually “hear” the silence at home, plus the sound of crickets. Another perk of being away from everyone else is the lack of light pollution. I was sitting out on our patio with my family when I randomly looked up at the sky to see the stars. Just moments after I looked up, I spotted a shooting star. Maybe next year I’ll try to be home during the peak of the Perseids.

Besides just enjoying being in the area, I also took care of some stuff I’ve been meaning to get to. I packed up a bunch of negatives of family photos to be shipped to ScanCafe (I’ll certainly blog about my experience with them at a later point), and I also got a box of home videos to send to California for a similar project. I didn’t send them all, but I should have enough to keep me busy until the next time I go home.

* The Amish, I think.

week at home in Pennsylvania and it was awesome. For the past three years, whenever I’ve gone home, it’s been for an event, such as a holiday or a graduation, which means lots of running around. That’s fun, but I wanted to spend some time back home without any big plans, so that’s what I did. I got to see my sister on her birthday, visit my grandparents, spend some time with our cats, eat lunch at Dilly’s[twitpic link] and dinner in Doylestown[restaurant link], hang out with a vertically gifted friend, hike along the Delaware canal, and see a bunch of family for a dinner at our house.
They* say that you don’t know what you have until it’s gone, and that’s true. Like lightning bugs. Such a small thing, but they don’t have them where I live in California. In fact, they don’t even have lightning. Well, while I was home I got to ride through a passing thunderstorm and then 20 minutes later find myself sitting out on a balcony on a beautiful afternoon. The weather doesn’t change that much over an entire year in the Bay Area, let alone in 20 minutes. And man, Beah is right. Pennsylvania is green. That’s really the first thing I noticed on the drive home from the airport. Big, non-pebbled yards full of green grass. When I first stepped out onto our patio, I felt like I was in a rainforest. The humidity certainly helped, but the plants were really doing well this year, thanks to the rain, which, also does not seem to exist in the Bay Area.
-canal animals/more greenness
And this is more of a city vs. country difference than a California vs. Pennsylvania thing, but I really noticed how quiet it was, especially sitting outside at night. (light pollution, shooting star)
Besides just enjoying being in the area, I also took care of some stuff I’ve been meaning to get to. I packed up a bunch of negatives of family photos to be shipped to ScanCafe (I’ll certainly blog about my experience with them at a later point), and I also got a box of home videos to send to California for a similar project. I didn’t send them all, but I should have enough to keep me busy until the next time I go home.
* The Amish, I think.

3 thoughts on “Home”

  1. Man, I could have written the same thing about Ohio. Now that we have Athena, we shuttle around from one get-together to another. I wish I could take a couple weeks, get over the initial excitement and then just enjoy family and green things.

    I have to tell Athena things like, “did you know that where mommy and daddy come from, water just falls from the sky?” and she looks at me like I’m talking about the tooth fairy.

  3. Aww, Maria, you can still like California! It has plenty of nice features. Maybe I’ll write a “Why I like California” post one of these days.

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