Getting there, navigating in physical space through the plexus of near-future possibilities is the easy part. The Robot Voice Lady will guide us reliably to another precise point on the possible paths to the coordinates that will become home. We will be there soon.
But this same spider-visual from the porch yesterday also made me a little anxious, if I let it represent the vast number of possible turns I might take once we are on the ground.
I can know where I will be six months after moving from the Southern Mountains and Floyd County after 27 years. But I can’t know WHO I will be with much precision.
How do I parse this fact?
We are the sum of our stories that distill into a reputation, a known temperament that includes our sense of humor, irony, and sarcasm and wit. We are known by the things that interest us that drive us to participate with enthusiasm in some activities and not with others. And that very much determines the other be-ings that become our colleagues and friends.
So here’s the thing: For 27 years, Floyd County has been a simple web with not so many strands. I have had options and made choices, participated, advised, made music, taken photographs, told stories, drunk coffee, shared a brew and hiked and hung out within those limited options. It has been wonderful.
In the web that is Columbia Missouri, there will be so many more things to chose which will send off in unique directions. In a university environment; in a retirement community of more than 200 old souls; and an urban area the size of Roanoke, there will be choices aplenty.
Facing the months just ahead, standing on my thin strand of silk, I am determined to be excited about these facts and not intimidated.
I hope to be able to let you know how it all comes about.
– Fred First is an author, naturalist, photographer watching Nature under siege since the first Earth Day. Cautiously hopeful. Writing to think it through. Thanks for joining me. Subscribe to My Substack HERE