Homesick

I blame my friend and fellow blogger Tim Re (you should read him - he's good!).  He decided that since his ex-wife took the kids to Buffalo to see her family for Christmas; he would take the long trek from South Carolina back to our hometown of Vandalia, Ohio for Christmas.  Couple that with the fact that our fair city and the rest of the Midwest got pounded by a serious snow storm and I have one gnarly case of homesickness.

Now this is a weird feeling for me.  I never get homesick.  I left the cold winters of Ohio for the balmy ones of Southern California 15 years ago and have been back exactly four times since.  After having a falling out with a close family member, the urge to come home hasn't really struck me until now.  Now I do get insatiable cravings for a local chicken wing restaurant  called Frickers, but that's because they don't know how to do wings right out here. That is as far as it goes when it comes to thinking about that 6 hour flight across country. I have a lot of close friends who still live back east and thanks to Facebook I keep in regular touch, but it isn't the same.  I have my 4 best friends who are only a text message or phone call away, but again it isn't the same.  I want to have a girls night out with Tania and Lisa as we drink too much wine and catch up on old times.  I have never met Susie's two kids.  I want to meet Wally's two kids.  I want to see Susie's parents.  I want to catch up with Amber and David and David and all the others it's been too damn long since I've seen.

I don't know why I have an insane urge to be in snow.  I hate being cold.  I go to great lengths to insure I stay warm.  I can usually be found with a tank top under a shirt, a cardigan over the shirt and a scarf from about October to February.  I don't care how ugly my Ugg knockoffs are - they keep my toes warm. The only time I like it cold is when I am sleeping, but even then I have on fleece pajama bottoms with a tank top (I like tank tops - what can I say?) and sleep with 2 blankets and a comforter.  I hate socks, but come winter - I live in them.  All of a sudden though - I want to be out trudging through snow.  Listening to that silence you only experience when snow is falling.  I want to see Christmas lights shining in a winter wonderland (it's Ohio - chances are come March - the same lights will still be up.  They may not be lit, but still up nonetheless.)  I want to gaze out the window and look at an unmarred landscape at sunrise because it's too early for people to be out making tracks.  I may have posted all of this in a previous post & if so - I apologize.  It's just very relevant at this exact moment.

I guess it's mostly because as much as I think I want to go home - I know I can't afford it.  Airfare isn't cheap and I couldn't afford a rental car when I got there.  You tend to want things more when you know you can't have it.  So in the meantime - I will continue to do as I always do.  Facebook the distant friends and call and text the close ones.  While we are apart in person, we are together in spirit.  In the end that's all that matters. 

When I was in High School - we did this song in Show Choir.  While I was none too happy about who my partner was when I had to sing it - I think Ms. Diana Ross in the Wiz sums it up nicely.  I do love me some Diana Ross!

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