The Current State of Affairs...

So, this photo (from a sign located in Palm Meadows) pretty much sums it up...I think.

I sat down to write and wrote a page of drivel. Really. All the prophetic and wise things I want to say began to sound like this: "Like Sands Through The Hourglass, These Are The Days Of Our Lives..." Which is pretty much already taken.

I wish I could put into words what being back in the U.S. really feels like. What being out of India, REALLY feels like. I can't. Perhaps it's too soon. Perhaps the words will flow once we stop living in a hotel room. Once I have more than 2 pairs of pants and 1 sweater to wear. Once the sun comes out, stays out and forces the god-forsaken temperatures to RISE. UP. Once every Indian-English inflection that comes from our children's mouths doesn't feel so...like home. We feel uprooted. Unsettled. And that, ultimately, is nearly impossible for me to describe in any way that doesn't sound obnoxious or self-absorbed.

So...anyway. We're here. We've rented a house for less than our previous mortgage (good.) Apparently, we've bought a mini-van (good?) Bob has located his express-bus route to work, which he starts again on Monday. (I'll be driving him till we move into the house...around the 15th). We've seen a few friends. The kids have played with a couple of good, old friends, (really, really great.) We have an official membership to The Children's Museum and have been to the library (oh my, have we missed THAT! Great Libraries are like the soul of a community...) Last weekend we took a trip up to Duluth to see Bob's parents and reconnect with our long lost dog, Coltrane. Grayce ended up staying the week after which she informed me, "mom, it was a good thing you missed the blizzard!" (Yep.) We've been to Target twice, where I had a difficult time assimilating. 15 brands of stawberry jam pretty much put me into a 2 day overload trance. 15! Why? (After near 2 years of stumbling across Bangalore looking for a variety of items...it. just. seemed. like. overkill.)

Lastly, I've decided that the Universe has a seriously mocking sense of humor. Upon driving from our hotel parking lot on a particularly difficult day, I noticed that the new shopping construction next door is called, "The West End" which just happens to be the name of the hotel we stayed at for 2 weeks when we first arrived in Indian and went to brunch at numerous times. Next to that is a restaurant: A Taste of India. Coincidence? Or The Law of Attraction? Cosmic-cold-snowball-hit-precisely-on-the-back-of-the-neck? You tell me...

Thanks (ahead of time) to every single one of you who has to put up with our nuttiness and hasn't blocked our mobile number...yet.

The Fischers

One foot out and one foot in...

Minneapolis, MN, USA