Quick trip home

I made a quick trip back home by myself this past weekend. Actually, it was Thursday-Saturday. It was a last-minute decision when I found out I was starting a new job this week (more on that later). So I headed out Thursday around noon and arrived back in the Fort early Saturday afternoon.

About the only thing I did at my parents was mow the lawn Friday, and pick up walnuts. They have a huge walnut tree on the east side of their house. It provides great shade - and for many years held a tire swing I played on - but I can remember having to pick up walnuts from it my entire life. My parents had already filled about a dozen buckets of various sizes so I took them to the park and dumped them on the burn pile. My mom and I then filled them all again and I dumped those. In the few hours after they had all been picked up, I eventually filled another couple buckets again. I'm sure there is another load gathered by now.

At any rate, my mom always appreciates when I mow the lawn. They have oddly weird grass. It is super soft, and it's very thick. In some places it's almost like carpet. However it is also somewhat tough to cut. So you have to walk extremely slow to make it look really good. I have always treated mowing somewhat like art, and I like looking at it when it's done. I feel like I've accomplished something.

Another thing that happened was I discovered a bunch of bumble bees to the southwest of the house while mowing. And I mean there was like a couple dozen at least. They were coming out of the ground! It was weird. They didn't really bother me, so they must have been males (who apparently don't sting), but I've never been a fan of bees. I googled about them after mowing and am hoping they move on.

The only other thing I accomplished while there is purchasing a new swing for the tree in the backyard. My mom had an old wooden swing hanging from a tree and the board had broken. I offered to make another one, but in the meantime I went to Menards and bought a $7 red belt swing and hung it up.

One thing about this trip home... I found I didn't really want to be around people. Both Thursday and Friday night I "went out" and thought about stopping in at a watering hole to chat with old friends, but just drove around by myself instead. Friday night my parents wanted me to go to the high school football game with them - especially so because it was 'Homecoming' - and while a good son probably would have, I just couldn't bring myself to go. The thought of having to answer questions and chit-chat with people I really didn't know anymore was... I don't know if I would call it 'frightening' or 'sickening.'

I'm not sure when I got like this. While it's true I've always been a quiet person and never a fan of small-talk, I did use to like to 'go back home' and visit with people. I thought about stopping at the little bar I used to frequent but, again, I simply did not want to have to talk to anyone. I wanted to be silent. So, I suppose in that respect, it was a good trip because I was pretty much allowed to be.

I'm wondering if there is something going on under the surface. Jane and I have both sensed... "something" happening in our lives. Perhaps we are being prepared for some sort of change, or a new direction, or we've simply turned a corner of some kind. I can't quite put my finger on it, and it's not a bad thing at all (I don't think), it's just different.

So, that's what happened on this last trip home. One or both of us will likely try to go again next month, or at least early November. Hopefully road construction through Chicagoland will be better then. It took me almost 6 hours to get there Thursday due to construction and traffic accidents. At least I made it home in under 5 hours Saturday.