Nostalgia

Been really missing Bali these days. Well, not really the real Bali, but more my image of Bali. You know, the trees, flowers, water, birds, and tranquility.

I didn't know how much I missed wearing shorts and sandals until it got hot enough here these days. I had forgotten how it felt like to have the indoor and outdoor temperatures be alike. How I wouldn't shiver when I opened the door, or hold my breath because the wind is slitting my throat.

I forgot how easy it was to keep my skin moist in the summer. Not needing to constantly put thick body butter on only to have it dry out in half a day. I even forgot how my shins looked like because I haven't seen them for six months.

I had forgotten how it feels to not be cold when getting out of the shower and to not frown at the thought of getting my hair wet. I had forgotten how limber my fingers and toes can be when they're warm. And how lovely it is to hear the birds when I wake up.

Summer here, to me, represents life. All things come alive and dances with you until darkness crawls in at midnight. People are out and about, talking, walking, playing, living. Plants thrive and flowers bloom. Then the animals come home, and join this amazing encounter of laughter and love.

People here don't really walk bare foot at all, and I have slowly forgotten how the earth feels like. Only in my dreams while I dream of being a child again do I get to feel the soft support of freshly cut grass. Only in my dreams of Bali do I get to feel the warm embrace of the sun again, beaming through the plumeria trees. Only in my dreams do the bees carry my dreams up to the sky and reach the stars, showering back down like kisses.

I dream of Bali. Perhaps it was Bali in the 70s, or maybe it is all in my imagination. But if I don't stop dreaming, then maybe some day, I will wake up among the flowers and the stars and realize, that I'm finally home.