What I Miss

Upon contemplation, and an email to a friend about my week here that ended with, "I still miss Orion.", I started to think about some of the things I do miss from the land of Utes.

• I miss my children, of course.
• Sunday films, when everyone was at church, and we worshipped at the Cinema 8, where admission was $4.25, and a bigassbucketofpopcorn with a free refill, two large drinks and a box of milkduds was $10. Can't ask for more than that. Even first run, top rated films were walk in easy.
• My friends. All of them, from Mrs. S, who taught me to can (didn't know I could do that, did you?), and always, ALWAYS makes me laugh to the SisterWife, MN, the SisterWife's husband...to M who gives the best haircuts in town, to K that keeps the Festival running. Everyone else that was part of my daily life, who knew me by sight, the people that I'd stop and talk to on the street after years of living there, of being part of the town fabric. It's tough losing that network. I was one of my doctor's first patients, I mean, my chart is in two digits. It's nice to know you can call, and yes, he'd make a house call for me. JD, a realtor who is a friend, who will clear her book to help me out.. and this woman is not just any small town realtor. She's second in the nation...and there when you ask.
• The air. It's so clear there, from my back deck, you can see for 100 miles to the next range of mountains. We sit at 5100 feet, on the edge of a park... it's clear and clean and beautiful. Crisp in the fall, so sharp, you can taste it.
• The night sky. You can see stars, filling the sky. Orion moves across my backyard sky with the seasons... one of his belt stars a birthday gift to a friend. Hard to wrap, but, easy to find. Last summer, the town lost power for four hours in the middle of the night. The ChosenOne, all 6'5" of him, woke me up and and he pulled himself up on the roof, leaving me on the deck, where I love to lie and look up at the only thing greater than we are. We sat there, wrapped in down blankets, watching the sky that was so full of stars, it hurt your eyes. Shooting stars streamed overhead. You could see the colours of the stars for once, red and blue... some had green tinged edges. Millions of stars...all for us to enjoy. I cried.
• The ease of getting around. We have, I believe, 18 stoplights. Yes, 18. You grow annoyed when it takes 15 minutes to get from Carl, Jr's. on the north end of town to WalMart on the south. Sad, innit?
• I miss my backyard. It is a huge lot, around 1/3 an acre, most of it rock and trees and a small patch of grass. The lawn part is surrounded by huge, tall lilac bushes...blooming now, filling the air. My roses will be budding now, in the front garden, there is a wild rose bush, around 6 ft across, it bursts into bloom for around two weeks, then it's done...but, oh!, when it blooms!
• My front fence. Silly, eh? But, one of the reasons I bought my house was my fence. It's an antique that the first owner had put in...it's iron, and has spikes on the top, and the gate squeaks no matter what you do...so, when I was in bed, in that silent place where you are asleep, but, not asleep...waiting for your children... I'd hear the gate when they came home, know they were safe, and drift to the deep part of sleep.
• People who say, "Oh, just take a left at the Mormon church."...which one? It's like saying take a left at Starbuck's here in the City...especially at Astor Place.
• The friends of my children...who have always, unfailingly been polite and kind and decent. My goldenboy, his wife, the ChosenOne's roommates, not a one has ever been a shitheel. We've been lucky.

Yeah... I love it here....sometimes, especially now, when I normally would be doing other things...things I'll get to later... I miss the land of Utes.

I miss Orion.