Palmtree Contemplations

Since moving to Wisconsin I constantly find myself having the following exchange. Me: "So, where does your family live again?" Them: "About twenty minutes from here. Yours?" Me: "Well....." When I was at college, plenty of people had left home to come to school. I am finding, though, that here in Wisconsin, a lot of people have been here for a long time. They belong to that particular group of human I've heard of, but rarely met: Born And Raised. Although, to many of them, I am the rare, the minority. When asked to explain growing up as a missionary kid with "all those other missionary kids", I pause, my tongue seemingly pinned to the back of my teeth. "Well, I guess it's just normal to you, right?" I smile and nod, quietly mulling over this word. Normal: Christmas presents in the mail. Normal: Skype chats, long e-mails, poring over Facebook pictures of people I love. Normal: Four time zones on my phone. Norma

The Oh Hellos are one of my favorite bands. I love their sound, their lyrics, and can sing along to all of their songs. I was actually supposed to be leaving for their concert in Chicago right now, but instead I am at home getting ready to take a long, hot detox bath. I've been pushing fluids through my body all day, but nothing is taking this headache and general "bleh" away. The fever started last night, which meant that I hardly slept and missed out on a game night. This keeps happening. I make plans, the excitement at doing something fun builds, and then I come down with the flu, or a fever, and I have to make the call to let someone know that I am housebound once again. Making plans quickly turns into "I had plans, but now the plan is to rest until I feel better." It's frustrating. I can't remember the last time I went a few weeks without feeling sick or lacking in energy. I suppose this is an improvement, though. It used be that I couldn'