There's No Place Like Home (Clicking Red Shoes Three Times Together)...

Every now and then, I will experience something I call a "dejevu" moment...not exactly a "remembering of something or someone from the past or a past life", but having a sensory perception that triggers a feeling from a different era of THIS life I am currently in. It can be a smell, the weather, a particular time of day, etc. Does anybody ELSE have these experiences or have I already disclosed too much?!? LOL

Often times, when I have one of these moments, I am taken back to a previous life experience/setting...usually pleasant. It happens a lot with different changes of the weather. Today was one of those "dejevu" moments...

Saint EB and I have been "training" for her MS150 ride in September (and for those of you concerned about her progress, she is coming along quite nicely! I, on the other hand, remain a bit of a slug...LOL). What this means is, when she is not out riding her bike, she is dragging me along with her on distance walks...usually between 3-4 miles. Today, we did HILLS...in 80 degree weather no less!

As the sweat plastered my hair to my head underneath my baseball cap (what wasn't already running down my face, that is) and the heat of the afternoon blazed down upon us (yes, why walk in the morning or evening when it is cooler?!?), I had my "dejevu" moment...I was immediately taken back to those hot, summer days in Houston, TX...the place I call "home".

For those of you who are not familiar with Houston (pronounced "U ston" amongst the locals), there are two seasons in this part of Texas...HOT and HOTTER. LOL Air conditioners are traditionally run almost year round (in the winter, to take the humidity out of the indoor air) and only the brave venture out in the heat of the day...preferring to remain in an air conditioned space until the cooler night air blows in off the Gulf.

In spite of it's heat, I LOVE Houston. It is the first place I settled and began to put down roots. It is a massive city with 8-laned freeways, yet it sprawls over nearly a forty mile radius, making parts of the city seem "not so big". Galveston Island is only about 60 miles down a fast moving freeway and I used to spend many a hot day on the beach there, picking up shells, sand dollars, and beach trash. The sun feels MUCH CLOSER to the ground in Houston...at least compared to the distant globe we experience here in Seattle.

In Houston, I was "thinner" (with Seattle came age and weight gain), very physically active (everyone has a pool in Hou-town...what's not to like about that?!?), and...I didn't have Multiple Sclerosis. Or at least, I had not been diagnosed with the crappy disease yet. I wasn't "heat intolerant" in Houston, my legs could walk for miles in the heat and humidity of the Gulf, and life seemed grand.

I am sure my fond memories of Houston are much like that of a pregnancy...women often forget the excruciating PAIN that accompanied birth! I know my life there was not always "pleasant" by any means...but just for today, it brought back such a tug at my heart strings and a sense of melancholy to remember those days.

Don't get me wrong here...I DO love the beauty of Seattle and the Pacific Northwest. My life is good in this place I now live. Seattle has soooo much beauty and magnificence to offer if one only stops to enjoy it and breathe it in. Our walk today took us down to the shores of Lake Washington and back up the hills through wonderfully wooded and scenic gardens...of course, I had to wipe the SWEAT out of my eyes to SEE the gardens, but that's a minor detail!

Maybe it was simply a near death experience or heat stroke, but I DO miss "home" on days like this. And my remembering of the place I recall feeling content makes the HEAT of the days here in Seattle a bit more tolerable...