mtbc | Temporarily rootless and nostalgic

President Biden is currently visiting Cornwall, a county I spent my second decade in. This evening, I also happened to open a recipe book that, among other things, includes a photograph of a place I have walked many times, part of the harbor in Mevagissey, also in Cornwall. Last time I lived in the US, my parents lived in Cornwall, so I knew that I could easily return to familiar people and places. Now, not so much. People have gone and, for various reasons, my ready access to places has too.

Lately I have been reminded of people, places, events, that I wish were not now firmly in the past. Just a couple of hours ago I used a flashlight that my mother bought me in Columbus, Ohio. It's strange to have all these specific memories and nothing to do with them except miss the things associated with them. Many of those memories, nobody in my life shares with me. Some of those that involve my parents, I wish I had thought to convey my appreciation for while they were still alive.

New things will become familiar and welcoming, displace some of these thoughts of the past, I am just not there yet. Once I have been here for a few years, I will know places and people and will have done things that I remember with some fondness and they will remain accessible. I settled into life in Ohio well but that was not during a pandemic while unexpectedly hemorrhaging money for myriad home repairs; right now I am having a family of raccoons removed and barred from the attic. Once this round of work is done, the house will then need rather more setup on my part before it becomes a comfortable home. Integrating somewhat into a community takes some time and money that I don't have and won't soon but hope to someday.