Today, I moved my stuff back to Abilene. I’m going to be there for about four months. I’ll be teaching online for Tech (and maybe part-time at Cisco) next semester, but mainly, I plan to sit around my ugly (but cozy) apartment and do next-to-nothing. I’m tired.

It’s funny, though, how I feel about that place (Abilene). I don’t know why, but I’ve always felt really in place in Abilene. That feeling was immediate when I first moved there at the beginning of my freshman year, and now it feels like I’m going back home, albeit for a short time.

In Lubbock, on the other hand, I never felt at home. I remember a time last September when I was walking to the English building on the Tech campus, and in a semi-sublime moment, I was hit with a realization of myself in the place and time. I’m not really sure how to explain that feeling of being in a place and feeling it as opposed to being in a place but not feeling it. Still, I don’t think I’m alone on that (read Walker Percy). Anyway, there was only that one moment last September when I felt myself as a living being in Lubbock, and it took a year for that moment to happen. And it was fleeting. In Abilene, however, (as well as Menard) I tend to feel my presence continually. I don’t have anything against Lubbock; I was really pretty happy during my stay there. Still, I won’t particularly miss the place (though I will miss some people); I barely felt like I was there.

I guess I’m not headed anywhere in this post. It was just a little bit strange leaving Lubbock today and moving back to Abilene. I’ve not lived in a whole lot of places, and I guess because of that, I’ve not thought much about my relationship with those places I’ve lived. I guess that’s something to think about as I try to figure out where I’ll be next fall.