Hauling and bawling.

The thing is done.

On Sunday morning, I bawled my ever-lovin' eyes out as I watched the stocky Athens skyline disappear in my rearview mirror. I was, very appropriately, listening to a Modern Skirts album (plug: for they are the BEST local band that still PLAYS locally on a regular basis). And it wasn't the kind of farewell that you let completely shake you to the bones, because Lord knows I'll be back for visits. My dissertation will require such. But it was the realization that it won't be quite the same anymore. I don't live there now. I won't be driving back headed home anymore.

None of my friends allowed me to get too emotional about them, thank goodness. They're smart folks, who touched my shoulders and reminded me that I'll see them soon, talk to them often. So that became my motto, stolen from a Stephen Kellogg song I blogged about a couple of weeks ago: "See you later, see you soon." I wish I could have let go a little more with them, though; no one wanted me to, but alone on my porch...I did. While packing as well. The crying might have been heightened by the amount of pollen in the air, but as I threw my suitcase and shoeboxes in the car, I randomly bent over in a near-convulsion. I needed a catharsis, and so I took it however I could. I can only hope that those people who mean the most to me know it. I think they do. I will miss everyone. And there are a couple of people who I will miss so much that it may ache. Just because I'm so used to seeing them in my life, each day, so easily.

Leaves? I had to turn you over.

I woke up this morning, though, feeling rather renewed. All of my belongings are streamlined, organized. How often does that happen? Score! I'm in Shreveport temporarily as I transition, and within a day of arriving, I made a new friend and heard from some old ones I love. I've started writing, both on my dissertation and on some fun new stuff. On Mother's Day, I'll be with BOTH of my sisters (and both are brand new mothers). My Italian adventure is two weeks away. And on the other side of that...a new chapter. Life as a Texan. So blogging will probably go on hiatus until June. And this page might even get a facelift (I hate that metaphor...why did I just use it?). Is Texas the South? Is Austin a bunch of mini-Athens strung together? I don't know yet, but I think I'm gonna find out.