Back Home

Stegner discusses his reluctance to return back to Glen Canyon because he fears it will not be the same as he remembers it. I have also felt this uneasy feeling, especially when coming home for breaks. It is weird to come back to Memphis and see how things have changed since I have been away. Some of these changes are small – my mom hangs a new photo in the living room and a new restaurant opens down the street – while others are pretty big – another lane has been added to a road to accommodate more drivers and a new building is under construction at my high school. Although I don’t love change, I also don’t hate it. I think that change is good because it allows us to see things differently and grow as people. I truly believe that humans are great at adapting. We quickly accommodate to new technologies and ever-changing trends. If anything, the COVID-19 pandemic has proven that people can adapt to a completely different way of life and do so relatively quickly. 

While change can be scary, I think that one way to cope with newness is to return to places that have remained unchanged. For me, one of my favorite places to go is a farm a few minutes from my house where we keep our horses. For over the past decade, this place has been a constant in my life. The driveway looks the same each time I drive down it, and the same horses have been in the same stalls in the barn (for the most part). Although my horse has gotten older and has a few more gray hairs than he did a few years ago, he still eats the same hay every morning and gets turned out in the same field every afternoon. There is something intrinsically comforting about going back to these types of places. I find even more comfort in knowing that this place exists outside in nature. 

My horse, Samba, and I enjoying the view.

One thing I miss being in Fort Worth is getting to see the leaves change color. We don’t have much of a fall in Texas. The weather seems to go from miserably hot to cold with not much in between. Memphis always has a beautiful fall, and I truly enjoyed seeing all of the trees before Thanksgiving. The transition through the seasons is another example of change, but most people aren’t as scared about this type of transformation as others. When it comes to nature, change is not only expected, but it is also necessary and normal. I think we can learn a good deal from being in nature. Sometimes we must go through uncomfortable situations, similar to the leaves falling from the trees, in order to come out better on the other side. Whenever I start feeling nervous about the future and whatever changes are in store, coming back to nature and these outdoor places of comfort always ease my mind and make me feel at home.