wreathed

Christmas decorations have been up at Target since the day after Halloween. We stopped in this morning for some pancake mix that we didn't want to pay twice as much for at Central Market.

I've been thinking a lot about Denver lately. I talked to my parents today. And some acquaintances are up there right now. And of course the Facebook news feed is still all aflutter on account of the pot legalization, which everyone's take on is getting a little stale, honestly. Granted, I would have most certainly voted in favor of it too but there are countless other and much more important draws for me to head back there, back home. Weed is the least of my priorities.

Always spend Christmas up there, it's where I'm from, where all of my immediate family still lives. Leah's dad and her paternal grandparents are there as well, an equidistant ten minutes away from both my parent's and my sister's (which of course was pretty amazing when we first discovered that about each other's past a few years ago).

I miss seasons, especially fall and winter, which don't really happen here in north Texas. I am not anti-Texas. I just miss the dry, crisp air on my face. The fact that it can be sunny and cold simultaneously in Denver. I miss all the options, all there is to do, to see. The distinct neighborhoods. I know people around here get sick of hearing me go on about the place but there is something magical there, and it's not just in the air. We have connections there, beyond the family, beyond the landscape. It is something deeper, something inexplicable and impossible to articulate. Anyone can get behind that.

Just four more weeks until I get to feel it again...Leah and I will end up there someday, permanently. Just not sure when. Three years? Four years? Seven? Ten?

But for now: this last four week push is, as it always will be, a time that tests the mettle. Makes one question things. A barbed wreath.