Friday, November 30, 2012

Harrow

I am going to keep going with this blog, and there will even be one more tale about the Pennine as I'm going up to Kirk Yetholm to meet Chuck on Sunday.  I am looking forward to hearing about his journey. It will also be my first trip to Scotland.

I've been back in civilization for about a week and a half now.  It's been hard. Back to work since Monday - a week of too many people, too many noises, too much sensory stimulation.  Even at the best of times, I've always been impacted by the noises and sights/lights of a populous area. I have traveled to Hong Kong a few times for work. Although I love seeing my colleagues from work and spending time with them, the city itself complete overwhelms me.  There's just too much going on, and my poor little brain can't handle it.

The job itself is just the job; nothing new there.  I guess after spending so much of my life at work (and at one company), slipping back into that pattern is not much of a challenge. Sometimes it's almost like I never left, except that I did and everything is just slightly different now.

Aside from the familiarity of work, there's nothing else about this that is easy.  I miss walking all day.  I miss Chuck. I even miss the muck.  My flat seems cold and clinical, or maybe it's just sparsely furnished as it always has been.

Chuck has called a couple of times to let me know how he's doing.  But he can never talk for long, and usually we have connection issues. Mobile phones don't work where there is nothing around for miles.  His journey continues, and I am jealous.  

This "re-entry" process has brought me to some of the worst lows I've had in years.  My brain doesn't know what to do with all of the input, and it's coming up with some wacky and disturbing images I can't shake.  And so I write them down, hoping the act of putting pen to paper will cause these demons to lose their grip.

Tomorrow I take a train to Berwick-upon-Tweed, where I'll spend the night.  I am looking forward to the chance to see walls built in the time of Queen Elizabeth I to keep the Scots out of England!   

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