the voices in the morning

There are voices I love to hear in the morning, and fall asleep to as they murmur along with the constant London rain, my family across the ocean. There aren't words to describe the way these fingers and toes and livers and spleens have wriggled their way into my heart.

the times between

the times between were the growing times,
when we woke up to snow and still traveled north,
when we waited on Westminster Bridge for the turn of the year,
when I learned to be loved and to love more than I ever had before.

the next county over

this is a place I often venture to take photographs

all the haunts you used to know

I spent a weekend at my grandparents' in the mountains, and my grandfather took me on an unexpected hike up to a beaver pond he had known years ago. We found boys camping in the shadow of a mountain, and we walked together in silence, picking flowers for my grandmother.

not who we were or where we're going

My brother came to visit briefly.

Sometimes I capture moments that haunt me.

the battle rages on

It's so odd that we can change this late. My family is in the process of moving from the mountains to the sea. My father lives in Savannah now. I got to see a glimpse of the new world of our lives while I was on spring break.

to learn the tree tops' song

My grandparents took me on a drive through the mountains to Tennessee over fall break. It snowed once we crossed the border, and I huddled in the backseat under an ugly kitty blanket and listened to stories they've told me a dozen times before. When I think that I may not have more moments like this with them, driving around corners of the country, it scares me. When I leave, these will probably be my favorite memories. I know that I rarely talk about my family on here (or anywhere, ever), but the small bits of family I have are buried in my heart deeper than almost anything. I'm scared to leave them.

The first two pictures are of their house in the mountains. The last one is an overlay of Donielle from two days later, on top of another mountain.