In a Year

A year ago yesterday, I flew back to America, back to Minnesota. A whole year has gone by! I think I’ve been pretty productive, no? Bought a house, got my driving license, bought a car, adopted a dog, wrangled some health insurance, made friends, planted a garden, started dating a be-pseudonym-ed boy, adopted a cat, flew back to the UK three times, ate at a raw food restaurant, saw shooting stars. And there may very well have been other things, too!
When I left the UK, I was confident that I was making the right choice, but I wasn’t expecting to like it so much. Minneapolis really is an amazing city — there’s so much going on here, and it’s infinitely more accessible than it would be in London.
I ran to the supermarket yesterday, and instead of heading home when I was finished, I decided instead to walk around Lake Harriet. I admired the changing trees and the blue, blue water as I drove halfway around first Calhoun and then Harriet, thinking about the past year. I was reflecting on all the time I spent by the lakes this summer, and how that’s coming to an end now that it’s getting colder. Wrapped up with thoughts of relocation, I had a sudden pang of panic — a feeling that I was losing everything I’d discovered this past year. But no. I’m here and staying; after all, who knows what I could accomplish in two years?