I am as pale as paper.
Every day I can see more and more how my complexion is changing, becoming lighter and more white, like a reflection of the snow outside. Now it is really deep winter here, with a good snowfall and the winds that make your hands chapped and your nose run. The air is dry and my hair, face, skin is feeling it.
Christmas was a fun time this year, with my brothers all home, my uncle in attendance at every family meal and our gift exchange, and I invited a graduate student who did not have plans, and she stayed with us one night and saw what Christmas is like in a typical North American household.
My Mom is still recovering, slowly...she has started another round of chemotherapy and radiation, and is still fighting, though some days can be really rough. I cannot imagine her going through this without me, and I don't know how much longer she will need me. As long as it takes!
Right now I am missing Costa Rica.
I miss the humidity and the rain, the laundry hanging on the clothesline outside, the smell of cilantro in the supermarket, dogs barking at me as I walk down my street, the sway and exhaust of the buses, and the heat. The delicious sunlight on my shoulders, the feeling of sweat prickling my scalp, the smell of my hands after making dinner. I miss, miss, MISS IT! Especially while I wait out the winter and brave the cold here in the frigid winter of the midwest.
Pura Vida
