Back in Austin

We'll be getting the line-up out for this next week at some point tonight. But, I wanted to share a few thoughts about where I've been for two weeks.
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With the deepest of sighs - of relief, sadness, and homecoming - I landed in beautiful Austin today.

I can not and will not try to explain by way of keyboard the emotions of these past two weeks. Oh, I could tell you about the rapture of my grandma’s garden - the plums, peaches, apples, strawberries, grapes, pears, lilies, clematis, and the new bug zapper. I could tell you about the camp that has stolen my heart. I could also tell you about reunion with family - full of water sports and open heart conversations and our own unique family church service.

I guess I could tell you about the crazy trip my sister and I took across the state, where she jumped on a greyhound back to Des Moines and I the amtrak, Chicago-bound. I could tell you about the blessed bond of friendship and how it’s reuniting brought such pain in the knowledge of departure. I could tell you about the mexican food, the beach-side picnic, and the traveling shower for my best friend, who will bring a gorgeous baby girl into the world sometime in September.

Oh, I could tell you all these things, but right now after touching ground in Austin, what I want to tell you is that it might take me awhile to be okay with leaving. I know I already left, but my heart is so wrapped up in the people I love so much, I can hardly bear to be away.

At the same time, Austin feels a bit more like home every time I come back. I don’t know what to make of it. I simply don’t know what to make of it.