Autumn in English, English, and English

It's Autumn, finally!

The leaves at long last are starting to settle down, and we're settling in.

I'm feeling like I'm a little bit here, a little bit there, a little bit everywhere.

So,

On the way home

I wrote a poem

- Taylor Swift, "Sweet Nothings"

(It's not really a poem)

This photo is only related to Fall because there's a nightmarish-looking spider in it.

HERE

A calculated quest for huesos de santo in any windowpane;

a mile walked home with an ironing board in my hand (I couldn't take it any longer)

They're open! I drop in at 19:58 before close and the sweet bookkeeper has exactly what I've needed, a little book of las palabras to la Misa; I pay and I assure her earnestly at 19:59:45

that I will be back here

In a whirl I am back on the cobblestones and I trade a smile with the boy in Quisquillosa's window, ironing the table linens for dinner service that night

Note to self: I need to eat here

Every place, every pastry.

Every sticky-fingered running-start hug on the patio

Every morning we pray for Mateo's lost Pokémon,

or Martina's found Pikachu,

or 25 little hands shoot up like cohetes calling out a brand new vocabulary word

I remember I am here with intensity

Another wave at 19:30 in the street

Now I guess I know what it feels like to be a small-town celebrity

I feel like you might agree?

Let's meet in the Plaza?

We're

already here.

THERE

Hi!

Hey!

Dad and I will call you in a few minutes.

What? Okay. Forget what time it is there,

but it's 10PM. I'm in San Sebastián. We're walking around trying to find a place for tapas. Any chance we can call Sunday?

Call you in five

Uh, okay

We're moving to Denver.

Oh

I said bye, but it seems it was more of a Goodbye

So, bueno, tickets booked home for Christmas

There, there

Yes. I still want to re-download Realtor.com with Low Data Mode turned on

I'm strolling through Gran Vía scrolling through suburbs and sitting rooms,

and instantly I'm

back there.

EVERYWHERE

Last week, cenamos on homemade arepas in the home of a new friend from Venezuela (hey, Saúl)

Around the table, we spoke English, English, and English. And Spanish. You know. The United States, Ireland, Australia, united by queso fresco, bonded by tongues scorched because we couldn't wait to take another screaming steaming bite

The game goes, how much can you fit in the middle pocket of your backpack?

Let's see who knows their trivia

The answer is: everything

Everything you need, at least

With everything on your shoulders, you can be from everywhere, if you want to,

and you can go

everywhere

—if you want to.

Love, love, love,

Ellie