Some people remember key visuals from their childhood. They might dream of the city's buildings, the view of the ocean, the vast stretch of vineyards or stockyards, or the southwest desert scenes. For me, it's these hills. These beautiful, rolling, grassy changes in topography dotted with the glory of old oak trees. They take my breath away every time. They hold within them my many memories of camping trips, picnics, girl scout scavenger hunts, hikes along cow pastures, the terror of a rattle snake (which I've never seen) under each rock, and the essence of adventure around every turn.
We took the familiar drive from Sacramento to Fairfield today to visit my brother's family for lunch. I woke up a little hazy from some cold medicine that I took to try to fight off the always-present cloudiness that comes with the end of the stress of packing for an important trip. (I'm not sick. I'm not sick. I'm not sick.)
Still, my senses were wide awake when I saw the scenes of my childhood unfold in front of me. Those numerous farm stands on the side of the freeway exits. That old water slide park. The sign for the long gone Nut Tree stop. It was strange to see everything and feel like I was floating above it, not really here at all.
I found myself thinking a lot about my life growing up and it was like I was just living in memory mode. The place we went to for lunch was an old favorite hangout, but it's evolved into something fancier and even more delicious. Still, it was different. My nieces are still perfect, but they're much more grown up now. Different. The reality of the life we've grown into now in Colorado seemed distant. And the reality of whatever the reason is for our trip back in these parts was far from the forefront of my daydreaming. I still haven't figured out how to articulate my feelings about it all, but it was surreal.
And then I noticed the car seat. "OH YEAH!" We're here to adopt our baby girl! That's right, the car seat is loaded and in the Mazda 6 Princess Mobile. That's a visual jolt of reality for ya. And, with all of the thoughts and the dose of reality too, I was happy.
