The Return

I returned home on the Air NZ Sunday night flight, a bottle of cheap duty-free whisky & a suitcase overloaded with miscellaneous items of Americana: vinyl, clothing, candy et cetera. After several nights on several Greyhound buses, the 11hr economy-class flight was a breeze, indeed, a luxury.

Home. Absent of mother & father (in Europe), inhabited by four young men going about their daily business, adjusting to a lifestyle free of caregivers, custodians, supervisors, overlords. Hence, cleanliness was lacking. It was however inspiring to witness the awakening of leadership in the older brother, once dismissed (obviously underestimated!) as complacent.

Back to normality. Back to the library. Familiar faces, characters, mannerisms. Some welcomed with open arms, some provoked a yearning to return from where I had recently come. Overall though, beyond the anti-climatic twilight zone, these friends of mine...