hummingwolf (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
hummingwolf) wrote2003-11-09 07:24 pm
hummingwolf) wrote2003-11-09 07:24 pm
Alien at Home
This afternoon was one of those where everything seems surreal, but one doesn't know how to put the experiences in words conveying anything other than the most basic mundanities. All I can tell you is that as I was walking, my mind and my heart were continually shifting from one time and place to another so that I did not know how my feet could begin in one place and end up in the next without falling through the gap, yet I had faith that I would make it through somehow.
As for the walk itself, in its physical details, it was amazing. I can't remember the last time I walked so far and with such energy. I've no idea how far I did walk, actually, but I do know I managed to get to a neighborhood I last remember visiting in the early 1990s when a college friend of mine lived there. The weather was crisp and cold, sky blue, sun bright, all trees and plants shining forth in detailed glory.
After a while, I wandered back to the local shopping mall, looking at all the Christmas offerings without buying a thing, simply admiring the glories available for a price. If I had money, I would buy sweaters this year. Not having that much money, I sat in the food court for a while, savoring a candy bar I'd bought on the walk about an hour earlier.
At 6 tonight, I found myself an alien at a local church service in Spanish. Though I was offered translation devices--twice--I decided to sit through the celebration trying to follow along on my own, with whichever bits of all those years of Spanish classes decided to float up to the surface of my mind. I think I did get the gist of the sermon and the songs, though my understanding was somewhat impaired by the kids behind me. Small children with tambourines are not an aid to comprehension.
As I walked out, having declined the offer of a ride home, the senior (English-speaking) pastor of the church arrived in the parking lot and called out to me asking if the service was over. We talked and hugged a bit before he ran inside to apologize for being so late. I walked home in the relative silence of a nearly-winter night, now finding myself transported to Christmas Eve. Odd how these things happen.
As for the walk itself, in its physical details, it was amazing. I can't remember the last time I walked so far and with such energy. I've no idea how far I did walk, actually, but I do know I managed to get to a neighborhood I last remember visiting in the early 1990s when a college friend of mine lived there. The weather was crisp and cold, sky blue, sun bright, all trees and plants shining forth in detailed glory.
After a while, I wandered back to the local shopping mall, looking at all the Christmas offerings without buying a thing, simply admiring the glories available for a price. If I had money, I would buy sweaters this year. Not having that much money, I sat in the food court for a while, savoring a candy bar I'd bought on the walk about an hour earlier.
At 6 tonight, I found myself an alien at a local church service in Spanish. Though I was offered translation devices--twice--I decided to sit through the celebration trying to follow along on my own, with whichever bits of all those years of Spanish classes decided to float up to the surface of my mind. I think I did get the gist of the sermon and the songs, though my understanding was somewhat impaired by the kids behind me. Small children with tambourines are not an aid to comprehension.
As I walked out, having declined the offer of a ride home, the senior (English-speaking) pastor of the church arrived in the parking lot and called out to me asking if the service was over. We talked and hugged a bit before he ran inside to apologize for being so late. I walked home in the relative silence of a nearly-winter night, now finding myself transported to Christmas Eve. Odd how these things happen.