Sunday, October 3, 2010

south of towers and east of kings

Home. After the last post of looking for a new living situation one appeared.
And so now I am in a new apartment, with new furniture, and new roommates, and a new part of the city. It is a good fit. Much like Dundee in Omaha: close enough to busy streets to hear them buzz and people laugh but removed enough to feel tucked in.
During the looking process I realized looking for a home is much like looking for a friend. A good friend. And I entered each space asking: can I laugh here? can I rest here? can I cry here? Much the same with finding the people who matter, the people you invest in and feel safe with. Not that other people don't matter. Certainly there is a significance to each person, but there is resonance with some that just doesn't exist in others. Tangent.
My home has had its inaugural moments after the boxes were in place and the bed was sheeted. First breakfast and coffee. First stubbed toe. First load of laundry. First walk around the block. First run around the park. First cooking attempt. First cry. First time remembering address. First bill finding me. First neighbor encounter.
And finally after a month of consistently sleeping (lightly sensing a geographic change in head position, facing east no longer south) in the same new spot, it feels like home. It took tramping around the blocks a few times. Finding the grocery store, the nearest Walgreens, the Wendy's. Staying put one Saturday. Falling to sleep to distant music from a bar and waking to the birds. Seeing the same faces at the library and the post office.
Yes. Home is where you live.