05 June 2008

Maggie's Farm

Punk rock chica is asleep now, down for her morning nap. And Janelle & I are back in Manchester, where we have six days left before the Big Move. Our hearts are pretty bruised and blistered from saying the endless goodbye to Athens. And we're exhausted. I therefore told The Farm I wouldn't be coming in to work today. Instead, I said to the farm, I will be spending time with my family and my mind. At some point, I'll probably hit the DQ as well.

Why is goodbye such a hard word to say? Why is it like a piece of barbed wire wrapped around the heart chakra? Why is homesickness one of the most painful forms of longing? I think it's because some of us are hardwired to "sense of place," and leaving a beloved geographical location is like excising part of your psyche. It can take you a while to find yourself again. They're not easy, but no one ever died from a goodbye. A fair share have suffered because they couldn't, though. It's important to know when to move on.

Stella's veterinarian almost started crying the other day, during her appointment. "We'll miss seeing y'all around here," he said, handing me a copy of his e-mail address. "Good luck with the writing, Jonathan. Stay true to it. My brother was a writer, but he got stuck in the world of academia. Now he teaches at three different colleges and never has time to do what he really loves." Point taken, thank you very much.

1 comment:

Ryan said...

i promise you that there's a big pile of hello on the other side, brother.

in general, i recommend hello. it's much easier on your constitution.