… I was in Madagascar and snapped this shot of my host brother Masoandro (“Sun”) and host sister Diamondra (“Diamond”) on the balcony of our house.

It’s wild how time passes and the spaces you inhabit change.

We spent so much time on that little balcony overlooking Manjakandriana, the town where I did my initial Peace Corps training.

We prepared food. We talked. We looked out on the town. We kept each other company. We chitchatted with passing neighbors. We smoked cigarettes.

We looked at the stars. We checked to see if the little corner store was still open for a last-minute ingredient. We washed dishes. We greeted each other as we returned up the path to the house.

We listened to music. We watched a little tabby cat warm itself near the stove, a cat that looked like my own at home and always made me feel a little less far away.

Time can feel so long and so short, even at the same time.

That’s how I feel about this memory.

I can close my eyes and be in the cold morning air of Manjakandriana. And at the same time there have been 17 summers, 17 Christmases, and 17 birthdays separating my current life from the life I lived in Madagascar.