Wednesday, November 5, 2008

Observations from my Walk Home

It's funny how you can return 'home' and yet find that your interpretation of circumstances has changed because of experiences you've had while away. The mind makes leaps in logic that seem completely reasonable until something else startles you back into the current setting.

I walked by an ivy-covered building at the medical center the other day and heard birds chirping. I caught myself thinking "weaver birds" and turned to look for them. I saw the ivy instead of the palm trees and remembered I wasn't in Africa anymore. In 1990, after returning from Sierra Leone, I sat on the hillside at camp, heard movement in a large tree, and immediately looked for a monkey.

Last night I saw 3 gas tanks hanging in back of a building and wondered, "Why do they need three church bells?" I walked a little bit farther and realized it was a dive shop and those really were scuba tanks, not a mechanism for calling people to a meeting.

On another note, there are three Dunkin' Donuts along the 1.2 mile walk home. Do we really eat that many donuts and drink that much coffee?

1 comment:

And she's off! said...

Wow, Jean, how different your experiences are! I think it is so interesting to read about how you are adjusting. Wait til it starts snowing again! That should be really fun. I wonder - how are the colors different here? What I mean is, in Ireland everything just seems green. Here, now, in fall, everything is orange and brown, then winter is white. What color are you used to seeing every day? I am thinking grey for the ship, or maybe it was white....just wondering, E