i arrive in layers, parts, pieces. the more primitive show up first. want, need, fragile, and fight. i  arrive tenderness and ill-timed, and with the irrepressible urge to scrub down the refrigerator from top to bottom. i am impatience with the car that needs washing and a body longing to do nothing. i am judgment of the fatigue and the dusty suitcase on the floor. the adventure craves the domestic, but rarely speaks of this. the pleasure of the clean cave, the zen of food and rolling socks in pairs. the sweeping and the eggs.

meanwhile, i download and name files, replace lost sunglasses and the shoes i gave away, and remain mostly mute while i wait for the rest of me. the more graceful parts. the ones that communicate, remember, translate, and transcribe. they tend to arrive more quickly when i sit still.

photo: Tarahumara baskets for sale, train-side, somewhere between Divisadero and Bahuichivo. August 2011.