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Ugh, its still chilly here. Maybe not bone-rattling cold but its only 50 degrees! All the more reason to be thankful of being un-homed in Hawaii. Of course I doubt there is anyone un-homed and bouncing around the streets of New Hampshire. Just doesn’t seem likely, but I’ll have to ask to know for sure.

Many people ask why my folks moved to NH after 35 years in Hawaii. Simple answer is that they decided to do something different and thought it would be more affordable too. Plus my Mom is from Connecticutt and one of my sisters lives there, so there’s a connection to the area for her.

Needless to say this isn’t a childhood home. It doesn’t carry the layers of memory and visceral reactions of the house in Kailua. That’s long gone now and forming someone else’s memory banks. But there is familiarity here. Naturally it all centers on my parents first, then other things: furniture, food, and there used to be cross-over pets, though they’ve passed on now. While I’ve been here there has been the funny banter, the teasing, the stubborn disagreements, and the sad faces; all hallmarks of a continuity that speaks of time rather than location.

In this case the location isn’t a formative one for me. Besides Hawaii that’s New York City where I spent about seven years, and Providence, Rhode Island for one year. RI is where I began to truly understand painting for the first time. The painting pictured here was one of those early ones that managed to survive.

But it was in NY that I immersed in art and later tai chi with some beginnings of Chinese medicine. NY is also where I can still get visceral flashbacks of things like Spring in the city, the excitement of young discovery, or the pains of disappointment. A lot of ground was covered while I was there: I worked as a bike mechanic and tooled around the city like riding in a big video game; I played pool with the old pool sharks on 14th St; I worked as a freelance artist and calligrapher; taught calligraphy with my painting and calligraphy mentor; painted; fell in and out of love; and went to museums a lot.

NY is also where I’ll be headed next for a few days. It’ll be good to reconnect with my tai-chi and acupuncture teacher, Dr. Mou. I know he’ll be pleased to hear that my clinic has started to do well, though I don’t imagine I’ll be able to convey being un-homed. His grasp of English has always remained limited so trying to get concepts accross can be a challenge. Besides it’ll be a time to connect energetically, something that happens outside any issues of circumstance. He just simply exudes quiet and that’s very grounding; something I need in healthy doses right now.

For the moment its still family time here. And at least its stopped raining; Some small measure of relief for the lack of sunshine.

Previous posts in this series:

• On the Road — But Not in Hawaii
• Cash Flow
• How Do You Spot An “Un-homed?”
• Nap Time On The Road
• A Funny Thing Happened…
• A Governor’s Decision
• Trying to Stay Clean
• Pity or Compassion
• Best Friends Forever… or For a While
• Going with the Flow
• Milestones
• Anger Paralysis
• Timing Is Everything
• It’s All Relative
• Riding Heartbreak
• The Courage Needed
• Bartering Along
• Getting Swept Away… Almost
• Neglect
• Small Measures of Success
• The Interior Life
• I Miss My Bed
• My Closet Has a Flat Tire
• Hopes and Dreams
• Homeless Are People, Too
• Full Monty or Not?
• Back Seat Office
• Staying Connected
• Those Small Indignities
• Putting Your Life in Storage
• One Step Forward, One Step Back
• Exciting New Career Opportunities
• End of the Day
• Solutions Wanted
• When to Hold On, Let Go?
• Location, location, location
• Range of Motion
• Food More Than Sustenance
• Figuring It All Out Someday
• Solitude
• The Good, The Bad
• From The Heart
• Does Anyone Really See Me?
• Keeping Perspective
• Showers at the Natatorium
• Achieving Homelessness