Community vs Networking

I've moved trans-Atlantically a few years ago, but every Christmas and summer I come home to hang with my family and friends. The first few times I travelled back it was homey and nice... almost as if nothing had changed.

Now, though, after three years, it's very apparent that time has moved on while I've been away. People have new lives, new spouses, new kids, parents have passed away, people have moved houses and changed jobs. I come home to remodelled shoppingcenters and new roads. The flow I knew for almost 15 years is gone.

But really, I'm not surprised. At first it was surprising in a happy, fun way, but now, sometimes it's a bit scary. I haven't been here... I chose to go... I'm not always sure where I stand with people anymore or if I'm just a face that comes around for Christmas and summer holidays, like certain table cloths...

I did some research on linguistics and specialist language... it talked about the language of community. Communities traditionally are bodies of people who share space... a town or part of a town, a neighborhood, a church or religious system... now communities of specialist language might be a body of learning like chemists or football fans.

It's odd to think that I may share more of a connection to people I barely see but speak to all the time via networking than with people I shared a physical community with for years. Though that being said, there's something about the feel of my hometown, the roads and the area... the speciality foods and goods, the local markets and stores, that other people just don't understand.

I've been spending my afternoons sitting on the back porch watching the trees. I've seen deer walking or running through 3 times in 3 days. I haven't seen the hawks yet, but I'm sure to soon.

:)