Family

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Its a funny thing to come back to a place; you can leave it for years and years, and fail to give it any thought, yet when you do return, there's an instant connection. Things inevitably change in you, and there's bugger all you can do to stop it. Once you are back, you are back. I find myself reflecting on things I normally over look. Small things, little things. The colour of the leaf of a rose bush; the feel of the road as you drive along; the kind of look people are sporting in the supermarket.

Most of all, I keep coming back to togetherness. I'm with my sister and my mother 24/7, we are constantly surrounded by old friends and family, and there's always something going on or about to take place. At home, this might drive me crazy as I try desperately to cram in some 'me' time, but now, in the fresh spring air, I love the company.

I watch people all the time and I'm fascinated; they move about and around, fill up coffee cups then empty them out in small or large sips or gulps. There's touches or frowns, smiles or rejections. Everyone is finding their place in the world - or feels they have already found it. My intuition let's me know straight away; you can feel if someone is comfortable in their own skin or not in how they interact with those around them.

I think this is the thing I love best about travelling; you can take yourself out of the immediate world you are in and just watch. Everyone is your mirror. This is of course the same at home, but when you are on the road, these senses are heightened; there are more mirrors. You can see reflections of everything in those around you. Some are happily married, others unhappily so, others still are alcoholics or workoholics or strictly religious. Everyone has their thing - their problem or excitement, their creed or culture. But the fundamental things shine through no matter what life situation all of these people are in.

What, you ask? What are these reflections that so starkly slap me in the face every day as we make our rounds to yet more relatives and friends, as we eat more cake and drink more coffee? Well, when I look at all of these people and faces, I see family. I am reminded, to the point of having tears in my eyes on more occassions than not, that family is everything I've got. My mum, my dad, my sister and brother, but also my friends, and the friends of my parents, and their friends. Family is people, all those you come across and meet everyday in the street or in their home. My family holds up mirrors all the time so that I can see my own reflection; I don't think I could hold them alone. That would be like trying to see the back of your head.

I'm greatful to them all; the ones who love me, the ones who hate me, the ones who are indifferent to my words and actions, the ones who rub me the wrong way, the ones I think I could so easily do without. I need them all. And now, here in Germany where the soil is dark and rich with age, I have half a mind to go and run through a canola field with my arms in the air in true The Sound of Music style. The hills are alive...

xx

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