Feels a lot more like home...

What a day. A reasonable wakeup time, a long shower, a bathroom all to myself for getting ready. A whole damn house to myself. Bliss.

Then, at noon, I had my first official Gov. School reunion—thank GOD Kristen lives so close, plus she has a car, so we chilled at main street java for a good hour and a half. We had so much to talk about—being back is strange. Walking through the streets and not running into any gov school kids is strange. It’s like Kristen said—it’s like time froze for five weeks. We’ve progressed and we must now reenter this world that’s no longer ours, no longer familiar, no longer comfortable. Our thirst for significance can no longer be quenched by the futility of our daily summer lives here in suburbia. In five weeks we have become learned, cultured, progressive—things Souderton most definitely is not. No longer do I feel like I belong in this backward place.

But this afternoon, I was reintroduced to the one thing that governor’s school lacks—nature. A physical adventure. Two and a half hours on the bike with trees arching over gravel paths, Queen Anne’s lace and hoof prints rushing by through the scrubby rolling hills, wind on my face, mud on my legs, a pounding heart that finally wasn’t caused by standing in front of a large crowd.

And—wildly, for I’ve never biked on the Perkiomen Trail before—I was home. In my element. Allowing a rush of endorphins to brush a wicked smile on my face as I pushed harder and harder, racing the birds, the sun, and the water itself as sweat poured and pulse pounded. Feelings of accomplishment and satisfaction that I haven’t felt in, oh—five weeks, give or take.

Of course, finally release came in the form of an Oreo sonic blast and Peter Gabriel on the minivan’s stereo. The old friend and the new me were as full of life as ever—talking, laughing, even dancing. Thank god—well, thank Aubrey anyway—even as my newly calloused hands scrub the grease and mud off me, I remember that I can survive here, so long as I reconnect with the things (and people!) I missed.