Transition

Back in Maine now. Feels very odd to see everything so... normal and less broken.

I'm lying on a heating pad to help with a bruised rib I got by tripping over luggage and colliding with a stair step during my last week in Japan. It's just an outside echo of how tired my heart is right now. Away from the disaster zone, I'm finding myself only barely browsing facebook posts from friends who are still working as volunteers. I'm skipping their blog posts entirely, and rarely reading articles they recommend. (No offense. I do love you.) I barely glanced through the National Geographic tsunami article, and avoided the pictures. But I do notice the quakes, perhaps too much. Certainly more than I did while I was in Japan. Maybe because the epicenter is at Mount Fuji. She tends to activate after a major quake, and I fear for her foothills and for Tokyo.

And yet I know my Stateside friends are wanting to hear stories from the front lines. I'll be glad to tell you. And I will need to tell you. But please be gentle for a while. They're stories of real people and real places. And talk to me about your everyday things, like coffee and breakfast pancakes and getting along with grandma. It's a big shift, coming back.

Eventually I'll resume reading volunteer blogs and news articles. My heart will settle into living in two places at once. Just give me a little time to regain my balance. And pray for the many local volunteers in Japan who don't have the luxury of leaving the disaster behind, like I do. Or do I? It's too soon to tell where the healthy balance point is.

I'll get ungarbled soon. Bear with me.