Readjusting to life in DC

From dc.about.com

Today Feraz and I woke up still in a funk. We miss Pakistan so much and it is difficult to adjust to life in a cold city like DC. It is about as far as you can get from Pakistan and not necessarily in a good way.

I decided that we had to be proactive about feeling better and suggested we get out and about. We started walking along the C&O Canal and ended up wandering around in some amazing neighborhoods. As we walked by the rows of BMWs, Audis and Subarus, we talked about what a different world this is than the one we just left behind. In Pakistan, we may have missed comforts of home like hot water and heat but having them does not fill the hole of community and family we feel in DC. We talked about how over-scheduled people are. How a simple coffee date can take weeks to set up. But as we walked and talked, I realize that we are each others family and we are so lucky to have each other. To be like minded and to have the same priorities in life. By the end of our walk, I felt at peace.

On the way home, we noticed a man looking into the canal and taking pictures. We stopped and saw that there was a great blue heron hunting its lunch. It was so amazing to watch it patiently wait, dash its long beak in the water and come up with a fish. The water in the canal is so shallow right now that I didn't think that there was anything swimming in it at all. The first fish that the heron caught was a little big and it held it in its beak until it could turn the fish around and swallow it whole. We stayed and watched it for a while. It found another little fish and gobbled it whole. It was a good moment and I realized that it is possible to have good moments wherever you are.