It was December 23, 2012 when I arrived back in the USA after a hiatus of sorts. The world was supposed to have ended and yet it was my best birthday ever. I missed this place.
I missed the wide streets.
I missed the giant oak trees of my old neighborhood.
I missed the graying hair of my mother.
I missed the hair of my grandmother that is turning white.
I missed the smell of summer rain storms in the South.
I missed the familiar wittiness of so many quirky friends.
I missed the micro-brew.
I missed the Common Market and other shops along Central Avenue.
I missed driving down the highway.
I missed the quiet.
I missed everyone speaking in English.
This list is not exhaustive, only a start.
A month from now I will be boarding a plane for the distant sands of Saudi Arabia. There is so much that I will miss from home. There is so much that I will miss from South Korea and Thailand and Cambodia and Laos, and Vietnam. Home is where you are your happiest and I have been happy in so many places with so many faces and people I will never forget.
Here is to hoping that Saudi is like everywhere else I have been: good people and good times.
Ah, I have missed the uncertainty of travel and now I am feeling it again. It is good to be home.
