A Summer Adrift

Summer in KSA is brutal. Highs can get up to 115-120F. And everyone leaves. During both the Christmas holiday and summer months our neighborhood can feel deserted. We decided before making the move here that we would make up for lost family time in the summers. We no longer have property in the United States, so we end up feeling a little unanchored. I have, however, come to find that being or feeling adrift can be a good growing experience. If nothing else, it made me miss our home in Riyadh, and after a year’s worth of adjusting and plenty of headaches, it was intensely rewarding to feel the urge to return to our new home after a summer away.

To add to our feeling of being adrift, we took trips every few weeks: Salt Lake City (twice), Seattle, Sun Valley, Portland, and Bear Lake. Each of these places brought back a piece of my childhood, so in that sense I felt at “home” all summer. Throughout it all we had a home base in Boise with my parents where the kids were spoiled with love and attention. It really was a beautiful, wind-swept summer. And somehow during this time adrift I became a little more firmly grounded.