Remembering the old life

an evening in San Francisco, as a tourist in my old life... with several former students (whom are all maturing, beautiful and wildly technological people) i walked through the old habits of my old life. Any one who knows me knows that i like routine and am a very habitual person. I also am a fan of a particular Indian restaurant and have over-played it, but we still go as much for the great food as the habit. We eat and are obnoxious; we laugh and drink sweet tea. Life is good and it is nice to have it here to come back to... as much as it is valuable to have this as a frame of reference... and to again be able to see my old life with the new eyes of a stranger.
for that is what i am ... a stranger. I am a stranger in my own city, a stranger in my own home and a stranger in my old life...
and so much for habits... lets go on a trip most of the way around the world and leave all the we know and get rid of all that we own... so much for habits. ... unless that is the habit itself.
So long old life! Farewell