Home again.

Well, jeepers, it -has- been awhile since I've updated the ol' blog. GOSH!

I have returned home, and home feels... well, remarkably more pleasant and cozy after being away from it for a few weeks on a hectic and stressful, but oftentimes joyous and wondrous, excursion. I suspected that a few weeks of travel would help me to appreciate home much more, and lo and behold, that is exactly what happened. I am truly glad to be back here, and my suspicion that I would not feel more at home anyplace else has been confirmed. Granted, there were some areas on the mainland where I felt quite cozy and comfortable, as if I belonged there, but none so much as here. I felt like way too much of a tourist. Large metropolitan areas still intimidate me, even cities so marvelous and attractive as Vancouver. The Canadian Rockies national parks had a way of winning my heart and making me feel very secure as a wolf, with their gorgeous ambience, beautiful surroundings, and wildlife protection policies, but I never could quite get accustomed to the feel of the air. To think, I was subjected to a nicer subdivision of San Diego, and I still found the general settings to be rather dull and unbecoming. It was just simply too... well, Southern California-ish.

Yes, this trip has resulted in my realisation of just how special this place really is. I can stand out on the street at the end of the driveway at night and not hear another neighbour, or even a car on the adjacent highway, for hours. Yet, we are not in Bumfuckville; just a very nice, secluded little corner of a small big island which realistically has all the amenities I need not terribly far away. I love how the wind almost always blows on this mountain, and I appreciate the random rainshowers. Everything is more colourful and vibrant here, and yes, the people are also much more cheerful and friendly. With my mother vacationing in the eastern U.S. until the end of July, this house seems almost too large for two people. That's not to say I'm not enjoying the space and the comforts of home, though.

I certainly don't believe I'll be leaving Hawaii anytime soon. I have it too good here to feel it's worth taking the risk to try to fashion a 'better' lifestyle for myself somewhere else. If all my closest friends could and would be willing to move here, then I would probably be perfectly content to reside here for the rest of my life, taking the occasional trip to distant continents, of course. I feel extremely apologetic about being so unreachable over the past couple months. Not only has every day since... well, the middle of May been something wild, but I admittedly slip into very reclusive phases. It's something I definitely seek to alleviate, with a few e-mails here and a few ICQ conversations there.

Coming in due time: a detailed photographic and textual account of my mainland experience. It shall be plenty of work getting everything together, but it will happen within the next week or so.