A Little Homesick, A Little Hungry

My current residence is in Portland, but for some reason I miss - I can’t even bring myself to say it without gagging - TEXAS. I spent a large portion of my childhood in a town just north of Dallas, and I can’t say that I liked it all that much. Actually, I’m being a tad bit modest. I absolutely hated it. I hated the heat and how dry it got during the summer. I hated that you couldn’t walk through grass barefoot because it was crunchy to the point that it felt like stepping on pins. I hated the lack of snow, the lack of hills, the accents, the outfits, everything. Maybe it was just me being 14 and full of angst, but I especially hated the idea of “southern hospitality”. Look, I lived there for ten years of my life and I can tell you, people in the south are no friendlier than those in the north. The only decent things about Texas were my family (and they were transplants, so does that even count?) and the fact that the state had AWESOME food.  I left as soon as I possibly could and not a moment later, and I have never looked back… until now.

When I decided to move to Portland, I was psyched, and in the past two and a half years I’ve lived there, I have never once missed Texas. Sure, I miss my family, but I see them once or twice a year at the holidays. Everything else? Not for me. But I guess now that I’m on the road, everything changes. In a sense, I’m stranded. I’m totally lost in these alien towns in the middle of nowhere. I ache to recognize the streets. Seeing America is absolutely incredible, but everywhere I turn I just see pieces of my family and my childhood home. I saw a woman wearing my mother’s favorite blouse. I stood next to a man wearing the cologne my dad uses for special occasions. I don’t regret moving away, and normally I can deal with being on my own just fine; they sent me to summer camp for a reason. I’m having a total blast seeing everything that the country has to offer, but if I’m being totally honest, all I want is a blanket, a hug from my parents, and some really great Tex-Mex. Maybe I’ll see who’s driving down south and catch a ride. Maybe I’ll surprise my parents after all this time. I just hope they miss me as much as I miss them.