A Stranger in Paradise

The big, bad part of the move is now over and done with, which means once again I will have time to blog, use the bathroom and brush my teeth on a regular basis, all things which it seemed like there was not enough time in the world to accomplish while there were moving trucks and boxes everywhere.


As of this moment, I'd say we have at least half the boxes unpacked and our house in reasonable order, so I'm more able to take my surroundings into account.  I'm a stranger in a strange land.  A stranger in paradise.  First, let's talk about the view from our property.  Panoramic, looking over hills studded with oak trees, the deep green mountains of the Santa Lucia range off in the distance, and the lights of Paso Robles twinkling in the west at night.  When I go to bed, my bedroom window is filled with Scorpius, Sagittarius and the effervescent clouds of the Milky Way, which I can see from my bed.  There's a deep quiet, broken only by the occasional bark of a dog or screech of an owl.  


Even the normal chores feel strangely and awesomely wonderful (and I don't use the word "awesome" lightly here).  Yesterday I was driving to Trader Joe's, down Highway 101, on a bright, beachy morning when the breeze was cool, the air was clean, and the scenery stunning.  This was my view on a simple trip to buy groceries.  


It's going to take awhile for all this to sink in.  I catch myself, time and again, entranced by the views, the scenery, the clear blue skies.  It's a long way from where I came from, where the land was flat, the sky dusty and dirty, and our only view was of our neighbor's trampoline and basketball hoop, poking up over the fence before meeting a sea of rooflines that obscured the sunset.

Take my hand
I'm a stranger in paradise
All lost in a wonderland
A stranger in paradise
If I stand starry-eyed
That's a danger in paradise
For mortals who stand beside an angel like you

I saw your face and I ascended
Out of the commonplace into the rare somewhere
In space I hang suspended
Until I know there's a chance that you care

Won't you answer this fervent prayer
Of a stranger in paradise
Don't send me in dark despair
From all that I hunger for

But open your angel's arms
To this stranger in paradise
And tell him that he need be
A stranger no more