Thank you for writing today’s blog, Rachel!!
Hello. I haven’t been a guest blogger since I was 11, so please don’t expect greatness. (I think my last blog was about cats, so it was probably better than this will be.)
Last August I traveled to the rarely spoken of, far off land in the south called Tennessee. What an adventure it was. Since I had ventured overseas more than once, I did not expect large differences in culture. I was quite unprepared for the south, with its sweet tea, hot temperatures, flat terrain, and popular Christian influence. Not to mention all of its environmental differences.
In the first few weeks of my college journey, I was so desperate to see water that I often found myself drawn to the fountain in the middle of campus. I would perch on the side, close my eyes, and pretend to hear the waves crashing against the gravely shores of Washington. I was also inconveniently battered by the wind and often thought: where are the mountains to protect me from these gusts?
Horror of all horrors, because of the intense rains of the Tennessean summer, I had to beg the use of an umbrella. I know, I know, it was mortifying. I lived in fear that someone from Seattle would see me with this forbidden contraption. Although I soon realized that it was socially acceptable to use an umbrella, how convenient!
Socially, my manners were also somehow off. My friends giggled at my “strange” behavior (straws in my drinks, eagerness to discuss feelings, coffee anytime all the time, loudness, blunt honesty, etc,) and patted my shoulder sweetly as they explained to others, “She’s a northerner.” I laughed with them, but I must admit I stubbornly refused to change.
Love this view!
Flying home this past weekend, (first class, I’m not kidding, – thanks dad) the plane dipped beneath the clouds, and suddenly I was confronted with water. Wonderfully, beautifully clear, blue water. Next my eyes rested on the deep green of the tall trees and the snow dusted mountains. I nearly cried with the beauty of it. (I also may or may not have been running on a semester of very little sleep, but no matter.)
Today is my fourth day back. This evening, driving past Sunnyside park, I was struck breathless by the beauty of the ocean. As the car journeyed along the quiet road, the pinks of the sky danced with the silhouetted evergreen trees on the hills, and I truly felt home. The hills rolled like the waves of my beloved ocean as the sun set in brilliant colors. Although I will miss Tennessee, (well mostly Union and my friends, sorry south) I am beyond thrilled to be back in my darling Washington.
Glad to be home in Washington!
P.S. I don’t think I can ever live in a place where I cannot see the ocean.
Project 365 – Day 139
Rachel
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