Monday, March 31, 2008
A Milestone
The changing of the season has been gradually creeping up on me. The nectarine tree outside my window has gone from bare branches a month ago, to a few scattered pink blooms mid-month, to blossoms and bright green leaves this past week. I've kept an eye on it from time to time, seeing the change coming. My life has been kind of a parallel of late. There are changes coming, and signs of those changes are all around me. Gradual, but unmistakable.
Spring seems to now be here (it's hard to tell in SoCal, where we have maybe two seasons, unless you count "earthquake season" and "fire season"), and mild as the change is, it's been a reminder of the advent of spring in Pretoria, heralded by jacarandas bursting into bloom--raining down purple blossoms all over Pangani. (I've seen two springs in the last six months, and I'm gonna completely miss summer--ah, the strangeness of traveling between hemispheres.) This spring is a reminder of the change that was ahead when I faced spring in Pretoria--leaving a community I had come to love deeply, and moving forward into I didn't know what. And it's a reminder of the changes that are soon to come once again. There's a return ahead of me--I'll be going back to Pangani very soon. I know things will be different...there are many new experiences and friendships ahead. Isn't that what spring is about? New beginnings.
The fact that my birthday--this particular birthday--is in the spring seems oddly fitting. I'm about to embark on a new phase in my life, setting out on a more permanent venture of living my life outside of America. I'm following a new vision, a new dream, and I'm excited to see where the road will lead. At the same time, I'm moving into a new decade of my life. It's really really weird that I'm turning thirty. But I'm choosing to think of it as a new beginning, rather than lamenting the passage of time. Because, what's to come? I have this feeling that it's gonna be pretty amazing.
Spring seems to now be here (it's hard to tell in SoCal, where we have maybe two seasons, unless you count "earthquake season" and "fire season"), and mild as the change is, it's been a reminder of the advent of spring in Pretoria, heralded by jacarandas bursting into bloom--raining down purple blossoms all over Pangani. (I've seen two springs in the last six months, and I'm gonna completely miss summer--ah, the strangeness of traveling between hemispheres.) This spring is a reminder of the change that was ahead when I faced spring in Pretoria--leaving a community I had come to love deeply, and moving forward into I didn't know what. And it's a reminder of the changes that are soon to come once again. There's a return ahead of me--I'll be going back to Pangani very soon. I know things will be different...there are many new experiences and friendships ahead. Isn't that what spring is about? New beginnings.
The fact that my birthday--this particular birthday--is in the spring seems oddly fitting. I'm about to embark on a new phase in my life, setting out on a more permanent venture of living my life outside of America. I'm following a new vision, a new dream, and I'm excited to see where the road will lead. At the same time, I'm moving into a new decade of my life. It's really really weird that I'm turning thirty. But I'm choosing to think of it as a new beginning, rather than lamenting the passage of time. Because, what's to come? I have this feeling that it's gonna be pretty amazing.
Labels: birthday
| posted by Barbara | 8:45 AM