Sat 28/08/10 03:48
It is home…

It’s seven in the morning of the 24th, the day before I head back to Dubai and I’ve already been up for about an hour. I’ve had three cups of coffee, about four cigarettes, and now that I’m coffeed and cigaretted out I’m at a loss to find something to do. I guess I could take a shower and get ready to leave. That could burn about thirty minutes, then what would I do? I’ve got to say one thing before I go on about Clovis, New Mexico. I still miss my brother. I’m not sure why after two days I still miss him, but the fact is, that I’ve been thinking about how nice it would have been if he would have stuck around for a few more days. It could be that the two days we hung out was just enough time to talk about surface stuff, but I don’t know. I sure hope that he made it home. Since I don’t have access to the internet I’m feeling a little bit in the dark right now.

As soon as I could I headed to the bank yesterday to try to straighten out the theft of my money. I don’t know where I got the feeling that banks are nothing more than a necessity and they are, as a whole, nothing more than selfish-money-grubbing institutions that will do nothing to help you unless they benefit themselves, but Wells Fargo is really making me rethink my feelings on banks. Like I said, I went in first thing and was met by smiles, I explained why I was there, they offered me coffee and told me to have a seat. The banker came over and took control of the situation. It was really refreshing because he could see the fraudulent transactions and I didn’t really have to convince him, like I did when I called the bank from England. It took about an hour, and when I was done all the transactions were reversed and money was already being credited to my account. When I walked in, I thought that at best they would tell me that they would investigate and in about thirty days I find out if I’d get the money back. So, without a doubt to me Wells Fargo Bank has earned my loyalty as a customer, probably forever. After the situation was resolved, I stayed and talked with the banker for a little bit longer and he actually walked me to the door just like I would walk a friend to the door as they were leaving. Wells Fargo Rocks.

After the bank I headed to Clovis to see some friends. It’s been more than two years since my last visit and to be honest, I haven’t kept in contact with many of the people here. Time takes a toll on all things, and although I still consider all the people that I know here as friends it’s been a little bit strange showing up. The fact that I haven’t had Internet since I’ve been back to The States has made everything a little bit more difficult as well. I can’t warn people that I’ll be somewhere at a certain time. I did get to see two people yesterday though, and today I hope to see a few more.

This morning I woke up to rain. I don’t know if I’m the weather-jinx or it’s just coincidence that every place (except two) that I’ve gone in thirty-four days has rained, but I don’t like it. It’s August, the warmest time of the year… so why has it rained so much? Regardless of the weather, it’s been great to see all the old places that I used to go. Clovis hasn’t changed that much and for the most part I don’t think that it’s changed at all, so it feels like I never left. I can say that the “home” feeling that I get from Clovis is waning. It still feels like I belong here, but that feeling is not nearly as strong as it used to be. If things keep going as they have been, who knows, in five years I may not consider Clovis my home at all. I hope not though, I’ve always liked the idea that no matter where I lived, Clovis was my home.

It’s taken me about forty minutes to write this so it’s starting to get close to the point where I can actually find someplace to go or something to do. If I only had Internet I could kill at least another hour, maybe two and then it would be the perfect time to leave.

Sat 28/08/10 03:45
almost like home

It’s been something like three days since I added anything to the blog. There’s a couple of reasons for my lapse, but tonight I’m hoping to make everything right. First of all, I don’t have internet as I write this. I stopped at a motel and asked if they had wi-fi and they said yes, but unfortunately I’ve been unable to connect, so this entry will probably not make it to the blog until I get back to Dubai. It’s important to me though that I write now as most of what has transpired the last few days is still somewhat fresh in my mind.

I arrived in Amarillo, Texas without a hitch. I usually complain about my flights, but this time I got lucky for the most part. From London to Dallas I sat next to a very small girl from the Philippines that was probably the sweetest girl I’ve talked to in some time. She was a college student heading to New Mexico to go to school. It was her first time in The States, and she was a little bit nervous about what to expect. When we got to Dallas I have to say that it was probably the most pleasant time I’ve had on this trip, the airport was basically empty, the people were extremely polite, and for the two-hour layover I had there, I kept thinking that I could see myself living here. I’m not kidding when I say that everyone was polite either, I don’t think I’ve ever been treated as nicely as I was in Dallas. After a slight delay my flight to Amarillo landed to the warm Texas summer evening. Things were really going well. As I followed the other passengers through the gates I see my Brother standing there waiting for me. I can’t say that it was a complete shock since he wrote that he was in Canyon, but I can say that I was happy to see him. It’s been about five years since I’ve seen him or anyone else in my family and to have him make the trip to Texas, and then to meet me at the airport was one of the best things to happen to me in some time. I been on a lot of flights to nearly every corner of the world and this was the first time in about twenty years that anyone has met me when I got off an airplane.

Palo Duro Canyon, Texas Summer 2010

Chuck Curtis, Palo Duro Canyon, Texas Summer 2010 ken curtis Palo Duro Canyon, Texas Summer 2010

The next two days my brother and I just hung out, went to Amarillo, and I did a little bit of shopping. I kind of felt sorry that Chuck had to wait around while I went shopping, but the shopping was a necessity for me. On Sunday morning he and I went hiking in the Palo Duro Canyon. I do a lot of walking through cities, in fact it’s how I get to know a city, but it’s really enjoyable when it comes to hiking along a path in the semi-wilderness. The crunch of the rocks under feet, the buzz of insects, and the lack of civilization all come together to make it almost therapeutic. In some ways it is kind of like some of my walks in Dubai, only it’s the sand under feet, the buzz of high-tension power lines, and the haze of the skyscrapers in the distance.

Chuck left Canyon after the hike and although I understand that he has a life that he had to get back to, I really wish that he would have stayed longer.

Wed 13/08/08 11:00

Right now I”m sitting in the airport and trying to use my computer but the screen is really dark…so dark that I can’t read what I’m writing. I don’t think I’ll be able to check my email until I get back to dubai in about two days.

sorry if you sent an email, but I hope that you understand…. I can’t see anything on the screen.

Ken

PS: I’m writing this part a few days later now that I’m home. When I was going through security at Albuquerque’s airport I saw a girl that looked just like Karen, a ex-girlfriend. It was kind of funny looking back at the situation now, but at the time my heart dropped down into my stomach and the “fight or flight” mechanism kicked in. I timed the security check so I was putting my shoes back on when she was collecting her belongings and went up and asked her if her name was Karen. I could see when I was close to her that it wasn’t her, but she could really have been Karen’s twin… and she said that she wasn’t. I had a butterflies for about 20 minutes after I asked her.

Sun 10/08/08 23:56

It’s late and I just got home. Since I don’t really feel like going to bed I figure it’s a good time to update my journal, this entry will be real time… meaning I’m not writing about something that happened a day or two ago.

I had a great day. :) After my last post I took off to do get some more shopping in, but I took a detour and decided to go to the Cadillac Ranch. I can’t give you the reasons for it, but I can describe what the Cadillac Ranch is, it’s a bunch of old cars that have been partially buried. I don’t know the reason for it, but it’s an art piece that is pretty cool.

Later on I went an hung out with Mandy at her shop. She and Alex have an art gallery and framing shop in the heart of Canyon. That was about 5, and at about 7 Jan came over and we went to dinner. Great dinner and great company. We finished the night having coffees at Hastings.

Tomorrow I’m going to finish all the things that I need to do before I leave to go back to Clovis. I should be on the road early evening.

Sun 10/08/08 13:40

I’m in Canyon, Texas right now. It’s about 100 miles from Clovis, and in many ways it’s very similar to Clovis.

Yesterday, I got into Canyon and rented a motel room and decided to go for a walk. I really like to walk for some reason, and since I got to the States I haven’t done any. Considering with the amount of walking I did on my trip, I was starting to feel confined or maybe a better way to describe it was like I was getting into a rut. I’ve actually been watching tv. :(

So I emailed friends here to let them know that I was in town and then took off for one of my long walks that I used to do when I lived here. What I didn’t take into consideration was how the weather burned me out. When I got back to the motel about 2 hours later I was so tired that I took a nap. Nothing wrong with that except that I told the people that I emailed that I’d call them when I got back… oops, my bad. Anyway, I’m laying on the bed trying to wake up when I hear pounding on the windows and door. I put on my shorts and look outside and Jan, Alex and Mandy are all there. Talk about feeling stupid. :) They were there to pick me up for a party tonight in Amarillo.

They were nice enough to give me a few minutes to take a shower before we left.

The party was fun, it was more of a get-together than what most people consider to be a party. About 14 people all hanging out and playing games. Well, I was the only one that didn’t play any games… I don’t know why sometimes I am so anti-everything… I just didn’t feel like it I guess. We stayed there until about 1am.

It was a good time.

Mandy

This was the team that lost. Notice they’re sporting the “L” for loser?

Today was more of a work day for me… not really work, but more of getting ready to leave for dubai day. In dubai I can’t really find clothes that I like. It seems that everything I find there is all fashion stuff, and if you know me, I’m nothing about fashion. So the last few months in Dubai, as my clothes were wearing out, I planned on when I was back here to stock up on jeans, shirts, and all the other stuff one needs. That’s what I’ve been doing so far today. I may need to make one more trip in a few hours to get make sure that I have enough for another year in Dubai.

Tonight I’m planning on dinner with friends and then tomorrow I’m going to the school to visit with some of my old profs. I hope that they’re there.

One thing that I don’t know if I’ve mentioned or not, is that I’ve been pretty vocal about losing the “sense of home” about Clovis, but I need to mention that it’s not just Clovis. I don’t want to go back to Dubai either. I don’t think I’ve ever had such a good time as I did on my travels around the world and I don’t want that feeling to end. The places that I’ve seen, the people that I’ve met, and all the other things that have happened to me have made it the best time of my life. I don’t want it to end… I want to book a trip back to Europe and probably head right back to Venice, and start again.

Sun 10/08/08 13:19

It’s Sunday right now and I’m in Canyon, Texas the city where I lived while I was in grad school. It’s a small city with a population of about 14k people, but is only about 18 miles from Amarillo, Texas a much larger city.

I got into Canyon about 2 yesterday and because I got up late and had to get out of the hotel, I didn’t have a chance to write anything about my time in Clovis until now. If you’ve read any of my other posts you know that Clovis is the one place that I consider to be my home. There are several reasons for my choice of Clovis, it was the first place that I chose to move to without anyone telling me where I had to live, it was where I got my undergrad degree, and it is the place that I feel like I have the most friends. If you have read any other posts you also know how I felt when I got to Clovis last Tuesday. I suddenly had this feeling that I would never move back, that the “home” feeling was gone, or at least overwhelmed from my life in Dubai and the recent travels around the world. Well, that is still the case. I love the memories that I have of my life in Clovis, and I hold the friends there as close as ever, but although it’s still too soon to say with any certainty, I don’t think I’ll ever be able to go back home.. :(

Anyway, Friday I spent the day with Chris at his shop. He owns a tee shirt shop with a post office attached. He’s been running both businesses for about 4 years and is doing really well… except that he’s getting ready to sell everything and move to Austin Texas. Back in the day, I’d go over and just hang out there, so being able to do it again brought back some great memories. Later in the afternoon Corey, another friend got off work and the three of us along with another friend headed to a bar for dinner and drinks. You have to remember that Clovis is not really small, but it’s small enough that if you went to school there chances are you’re going to know a lot of people, and it seemed that Corey and Chris know a lot of people. We ended up drinking until about 1am and then headed to Chris’ for some home made wine. I got to my hotel about 230.

It was great a time, and I’m glad that I got to do it before Chris leaves for Austin. In fact it may be the last time it happens.