First and second homes

Oh Providence, you're lovely in all seasons, even in the winter and certainly now in the summer. Rhode Island has finally stopped being "the place I go to school for most of the months of the year" and become a real home for me now. A real second home, at least.

As we walked through downtown Providence this last weekend on a lazy errand-running day, my friend Grace mentioned that she did now consider Rhode Island her home. I thought about it more afterwards, and mentally pitted myself against the question I'm sure I'll face often in the coming months: "Where are you from?" which will be answered with "the United States" and almost certainly followed up with "Where in the states?" and the response of "California" by gut reaction. Substituting "Rhode Island" still feels strange to me - though I'm here now, I've spent too much time being Californian and explaining what my hometown is like and thinking about the Pacific Ocean to make that swap.

In fact, I think I've grown more Californian now that I've been transplanted to this coast and actually faced with the state question on a regular basis, which makes me consider the things I love about my state and realize how lucky I was to grow up in Santa Cruz more and more, the hippie surfer beachy foresty place that it is. Things like going to high school just two blocks from the beach, running on Redwood trails on any given afternoon, watching shooting stars at midnight in fields with friends. So parents: thanks for making the infinite number of microdecisions throughout your lifetimes that led to our being there.

But, back to now and Rhodie.

I will buy this shirt before I graduate.

I present to you the Cinderella-Zheng plant family, from left to right: Mark, Ingrid, Hans, Olga, Nelly, Mark Jr.

The transience of college living is a strange thing, with the whole packing up your worldly belongings and moving out of a home once a year. Goodbye, second floor corner room of Finlandia - perhaps I'll see you again next spring? Or perhaps not. Regardless, you've been the best dingle anyone could ever wish for.

(Almost two weeks later...)

Well, I guess I shouldn't try to finish this post now that I'm not even in Providence anymore. Not so conclusive, but so it goes. I'll spare you a simile comparing the conclusiveness of this post to that of periods of time in our lives. Oh, oops.

More to come soon when I find the motivation to write.