transitions

After a whirlwind of a week finishing things up at my workplace, sorting and organizing all my things to get packed up, and last-chance festivities with my friends, I left Homer at 7:30 am Monday morning. It was a long long day of travel - Homer to Anchorage, Anchorage to Seattle, a long layover, Seattle to Sacremento, and a drive northeastward to Grass Valley, CA. I didn't arrive at my destination until 9:15 pm.

My final throw-down in Homer was a sledding party. It was fitting. I had to get my fill of winter in before heading south (which I haven't - I miss the snow!!), and it was fun and informal and I am going to miss these people terribly. I DO miss these people terribly.

I've came and left so many places in the past couple of years, leaving is really getting to be tiresome. Its emotionally draining - struggling to find your own place in a new place, and then having to let that go once you do. 

However, one thing I love about transitions is realizing what things you've gotten used to and take for granted.

The first thing I noticed as my grandpa (who picked me up) and I were leaving the Sacremento airport was how SHINY all the cars were!! Cars in Homer...are not shiny. And thats an understatement. I would say that a third of the cars are old beater station wagons - paint peeling, wheels rusting, the works; a third are pick up trucks; and the rest are a random amalgammation of well-used cars. Much of the roads in Homer are gravel, which means cars are MUDDY in the summer. In the fall and early winter, the roads are still wet enough that a wintry mix of slushy icey dirt coats the cars. Many have cracked windshields or crumpled bumpers from inintential trips into ditches. And I'm not trying to sound disparaging - it gives these old cars character. And its refreshing that people exist who don't buy a new car every 5 years.

Speaking of cars, I was absolutely floored by the price of gas here. The lowest I saw it on our drive up from the airport was $1.77 - In Homer, it was $3.56! I had no idea gas prices had dropped so much. And yes, everything is more expensive in Homer, but THAT much more expensive? Man.

Lastly, I forgot that removing your shoes upon entering a house is a particularly Alaskan habit. I never like wearing shoes unless I need to, so it wasn't a difficult habit for me to pick up, but now it almost feels sacreligious to walk around a house with shoes on. It makes sense up there though, for the same reason the cars are so dirty - in the summer, you would end up tracking mud everywhere, and in winter, snow. 

On a less relevant, but equally interesting note (at least I think so) - fun fact about my current location: We are right by the town of Rough and Ready. This is the foothills of the Sierra Nevada - the midst of gold country. Back in April of 1850, Rough and Ready seceded from the Union...Come July of that year however, the town residents realized that they would not be able to celebrate Independence Day, and subsequently rejoined. 

Happy Thanksgiving everyone! This is my favorite holiday....