it was the same but different

I went on a mini vacation this month to the Pacific North West to visit some lovely friends of mine. And I couldn't find a way to write about it without the words coming out like a poem. So I give you a sing-song like reflection of my journey and what I found in and around myself.

Everything reminded me of something I had already seen, as if it was a vision or a dream. The hills and rocks and trees were the same but bigger. The mountains and valleys wider and taller yet familiar. Was I home? I could not be, for the friends who sat next to me I knew were miles and miles from my own mountains. My coast was not their coast, and my air was not their air. Yet, I felt connected. The ground on which I stood if I took one step followed by another and another and kept on stepping would take me back to where I came. And so, as I am now a far ways from where I had been I am even so connected to it. The vale of mist stretching over the sky as the waters reach to embrace the mountains, I can remember it so clearly. Still and quiets waters winding the valley beds welcoming the swan and eagle and duck alike. Sleepy towns welcomed the newcomer, roads leading the wanderer to sights set aside just for them. Neighbors loving their neighbors through the exchange of crates and barrels, loafs and fishes, linens and mugs. Where a slow and steady life is the way of life. No bustle needed but to celebrate. Early mornings are but the start to a day well spent. Such a way to be I knew in my bones existed but had only dreamed of and experienced in slivers. Cloudy skies could be a comfort, still waters a companion, inlets and coves cared for and loved. I had stepped into myself and seen me from a different point of view. Beautiful and grand, quaint and enduring. It was the same but different. The smiles and laughter of good friends, the sharing of meals and dreams and grand plans. I feel more connected now. To myself, who I was and who I am becoming, to the people I love and who love me, to sky and to the earth and to the ocean. I feel more a part of the world in a quiet, pleasant way. And I think it is okay, to have a part of me always be the same and simultaneously have parts of me change and grow and become different. Because just like the earth all the parts of me will be connected.