Tuesday, November 1, 2011

Moving (again) to Carlsbad, NM

Cisco the Lifeguard

You never know how much you miss something until it is gone.
 With barely a moment’s notice, I found myself living in the middle of ranches and farms of southeast New Mexico, just south of Roswell. The land goes on forever… a forever palate of desert shrubbery and dry grass, with the occasional cow wandering in the far outreaches of the free-ranges.  I woke up in the mornings homesick for the colorful, busy, and social landscape of Washington, DC and Virginia.
Looking up, the expanse of the sky envelopes you with spectacular sunsets and intense starlight. Sometimes I feel like the sky is all I have. Then I feel the loving caress of a dog guarding my dreams at night. I see the excited smile on my landlord’s face as my motorcycle rumbles into the driveway. I hear the clanging of pots and pans as an ever curious Siamese kitten discovers my dinner from last night. I read a kind note from a school principal offering me her car on bad weather days. I feel the sweet hug from a deaf child learning a new word. This warms my heart.
And just like that, all I know here in New Mexico is gone.
A change of plans in the Americorp hiring process is putting me on the edge of a new venture, even though I have barely even started the current one. I am currently placed to serve the Roswell and Carlsbad area. However, the requests for both areas have me feeling like too little butter on too many pancakes. As fortune would have it, Americorp found another person to serve Roswell, so I can focus on Carlsbad (instead of serving both, with hellish long motorcycle commutes in all sorts of weather).
I had a choice, but I chose Carlsbad. Why? I can rely on my bicycle 88% of the time. And yes, I made that number up.  One motorcycle accident was enough. I’m grateful my motorcycle suffered more serious injuries than I did. I’m thankful for the chance to reduce the risk.
I’m going to miss cooking with my landlord, snuggling with my dream-guard dog at night, the indoor pool, 10 acres of private land, a loving married couple roomates who offered to teach me how to paint, a piano in the living room, an awesome and fun case-load in Roswell…. But I am looking forward to an  even more challenging case-load in Carlsbad that will stretch me in ways I have yet to imagine, as well as being closer to the caverns, and rooming with a sweet older Deaf lady.
Life is unpredictable. Cherish what you have at the moment. The next moment it might all change. J And when it does, welcome it with open arms. Life is amazing!

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