A Texas All My Own: Autumn Walk

Texas is a special home to me. I was going to say "a special place" but when you move around as much as I do you realize that living in one place for over four years qualifies it to be one of your homes. One of the things that makes it so special is that it's my first home alone, grown and gone away to. We've already established that I love autumn. Taking that one step further: cool crisp walks make me feel connected to the places I live and love, as well as those have I have lived and loved.

My mother has always taken us on long lovely walks. Sometimes it was more like dragging us on long painful walks to be honest, but still, hiking was a staple of my childhood. The two miles I walked this afternoon would be a short stroll in her book. Without family in here in Texas with me I have had to carve out home for myself, sometimes in new ways and sometimes using the old rituals of family.

One of my best friends and I spent wonderful afternoons in university strolling the paths and foraging for "dead bouquets," otherwise known as vegetation that could be dried and last forever in a vase or jar with no water. Today my floral arrangement garnered a stowaway. Say hello to Clement, the ladybird.

When I got home from this jaunt I called my mum. It's always nice to feel grounded and connected to home. I'm very grateful to know that through all the moves we made together, my parents instilled in me the ability to forge a new home. Those forging abilities are now life-tested and standing strong, a satisfactory result. Sometimes I think that not having just one home is better. None of my loved ones have exactly the same cluster of home places, but we can all feel close knit knowing what it's like to be holding our own handful of places in mind and making new roots as we spend our lives together.