Busy, busy, busy.

Late night working last night, looks to be the same again tonight. At least the load is intermittent today. I’ve time to spare a little thought this way between tests as long as nothing goes wrong.

…

It would happen right when I said that. Nevermind, fixed now. Coupla hours troubleshooting lost there, not that it shows.

I haven’t tried writing at work before. This is coming out weird. I think I’ll keep it anyway. Where was I? My trip home, before work caught up with me this week.

Woke up a bit late, not surprising since I was up so late with Cherik. So I didn’t get to say hi to Charlie and Ember when they got home. They ended up surprising me in bed with a hug instead. That was a great way to wake, even if I’m not twelve anymore.

Meals were a strange echo of my childhood. Now when we talked of our lives it was no longer only our parents who spoke of work and the people known through it, even if our lives are different enough that there’s more variety now than then. I’d noticed this shift happening but suddenly it seemed very complete. Only Lian is still in school and he won’t be for much longer.

I haven’t spent much time in Hanibah since I left to study in Saralies. Mostly when I visit these days there is not enough time to see my family and my hometown. Family wins every time. This time there was plenty of time to see the town, alone and together. It was strange to see so many little islands of unfamiliarity amongst so much I grew up with. Lian didn’t even notice most of them when I pointed them out. I guess that is the difference most of a decade makes in perspective.

Rel wasn’t around this time. Extended engagement on the other side of the planet. Melissa was about, though. But she changed her name! Melificent now. At least I still get to call her Mel, heh. We spent a long time catching up with each other the day before I left again, at that tree where we used to play and later lounge. It used to be on the edge of town and now it is in a park, and decorated.

I think about moving back home sometimes. I haven’t needed to be in Saralies since I graduated and it’s not as if it would be any harder to get to work. Maybe even a bit easier. If this visit has made anything clear to me it’s that those thoughts are mostly stirred by nostalgia for times I can’t recapture. If I moved back to Hanibah now it would be in search of something not there anymore and that would be a disaster. I won’t do that.

Besides, I’ve fallen in love with my Saralies by the sea too.

Back from work, back from home where I’ve been visiting the past couple of days, back in my apartment. I only stopped here after work at the end of last week long enough to collect some things before dashing off again and home.

I’ve missed seeing the sun set from Hanibah. The road curves down to the bottom of town and out over rolling hills, so from up top where I arrived there was golden light spilling out over shadow ahead to wash over my home like honey. I’ve missed it. Used to try and catch it every day, watch the light shift and flow over everything.

I stopped to watch a bit and see the shadows lengthen, light fade. Nearly got bumped into by the woman coming after me, since I’d forgotten I was still so close to the port. I didn’t recognise her so I said hi after I’d apologised.

She wasn’t anyone I’d've known. Just stopping by for dinner with a friend and since we both had places to be we did not talk longer than it took to say so but it was fun while it lasted.

Shadows were growing long and the sun about to set and Lian met me at the door again. He seemed taller than last time. This time we’d arranged things better and everyone was home who was going to be home, or would be soon.

I’ve missed home. It was cosy to be there again, surrounded by my siblings, talking and listening and catching up as the world grew dark around us. I was only the centre of attention for a little while, before I made Dizzy and Mangus talk about what they’d been up to. Again. I think they must have been over it already with everyone else, but I made up for it by going over my stuff again the next day with Ember and Charlie.

Cherik was there on the first evening, which was great. She’s been caught away the last few times I’ve visited so we had a lot to talk about. We spent a couple of hours sitting on that old log under the stars, where we used to talk whenever I had problems as a child.

It was not like old times. It never can be again. But it did have something of what used to be, blended with what has changed to become now. I loved every minute of my visit, but it made me so very wistful for before.

Mmf. That’s enough for now. More later.

Just got back from seeing Drawing Blank with Charlie. It wasn’t as good as some of the recordings I’ve seen but I still loved every minute of it. They trialed a few new pieces too, which were pretty rough but hold a lot of promise. Right now, I’m feeling filled with hope after hearing it.

It was great fun being out with Charlie. I’d like to do that again. Can’t be too soon though, since I am visiting home again soon. Maybe after I get back. Oh! And we ran into Amber from the party there. They seem to know each other pretty well.

Oh well, I better get to sleep.

Lovely day to myself today. Played the audio component of Cartesian Bullets’ catalogue loud, diagramming thaumic connections for a project of mine neglected too long. Out my window Saralies was washed in overcast grey with slate sea to mirror, and when the sun set my apartment was lit in threads of silver and gold, red and blue and green spotted connections.

So cosy in here. Music, lights, puzzle and beauty. Today is a happy day.

This has been a busy week so far. A couple of days after the party I ran into Charlie at work. We talked and decided to go to lunch together the next day and then that went so well that next week we are going to see Drawing Blank perform. That should be fun. I haven’t seen them live yet.

The next day I hung out with Mandy and Hanna. We didn’t have any particular plans so we just met up at Kite Park in the morning. We sat around there for a bit, then sort of wandered through Saralies the rest of the day, stopping wherever caught our interest. I ended up with a new coat; winter is coming after all.

We stumbled across one of Hanna’s favourite restaurants at just the right time for lunch. He says it was a coincidence. I’d be more suspicious but the food was delicious.

Mandy found a gorgeous new skirt and we finished the day at the Silver Bow. I love that place. You can’t really see the harbour from there, just hints of glinting sparkles especially at sunset, but the food is spectacular and so is the view over Saralies.

The day after that I went to dinner with Arnault and Pree and Alex. I don’t think I mentioned Alex before. She does great work, but seems terribly shy. Pree told me the last time they persuaded her to go anywhere with them was half a year ago. She’s cute too. Alex was pretty quiet through dinner but I got the impression that is what she is comfortable with. The other two were loud enough to make up for her anyway, heh.

I still haven’t showed Pree Saralies yet but I did bring it up, she says she’s never been herself. We’ll sort it out soon.

The atmosphere seemed much more relaxed than it has so far. I think I am really starting to settle in here. I like Carousel-Kabutah. I like Saralies and my place here. And I love the work I am doing now.