a humble beginning

And so here we have it. Every adventure begins in one's own backyard. What better place to begin the story of me than here in Royal Oak, Michigan!  As I warm up to this "blogging" thing, I might as well start with something easy like that. There's so much that I want to tell, to remember, that I wouldn't know where to start! I'd like to use the blog to keep my friends up to date with my daily happenings, to keep up with current events, but with so many things changing for me at the moment, it's almost easier to talk about the past. 

For me, the past is melding with the present a little bit. I'm back in the house in which I spent most of my life, after three and a half years away. So much has changed in those

 three and a half years that the Annie returning to Vinsetta Boulevard is nearly nothing like the one that left. And the house itself has changed... My loft bed has been replaced by a futon, my sister's old bedroom devoid of any remnant of her having lived there. The living room gathers dust as the piano bench slowly decays. My parents' old bedroom has become my father's den, strewn with vaguely Asian memorabilia and keepsakes from his time working for GM in China, Korea and Thailand. The family room's coffee table is stacked high with TV Guides, burying my scrapbooks and photo albums. My dad lives here alone now, and even then he hardly spends much time here. The house is in need of work, but my dad prefers to spend his weekends away. Basic maintenance is done by maid and lawn services, but a clean house is not a home. With all of the things we used everyday sitting around unused and useless, this house is simply an empty shell of a family grown apart.

So now, coming back to the Royal Oak house after my big China adventure, it's easy for me to slip into nostalgia--dreaming about things as they were, and wistful wishes for what might have been. 

But this is not a bad thing! I'm very happy to be back in Royal Oak for the months of spring. Vinsetta Boulevard is the most lovely place in the world (to me) to watch spring unfold! The flowers are out in bloom, the birds are singing, a breeze is blowing... I appreciate these things more now that I've missed them for several years, and even more since I plan to leave Michigan in the fall, and might not be back to see spring in Royal Oak again for awhile!

A backyard is a good place to start. My backyard is security of the past and potential for the future: filled with both comforting old memories and nature bursting into new life!