Dear wind, can we make a pit stop back home?

He didn’t know what he was doing at the time, or that’s how it sounds to hear him tell it. Actually, I believe it. If my dad gave any credit to the profound power of names and words he probably would have named me Cypress or Pine instead. He would really rather me sprout some roots and nurture a sturdy trunk of responsibility and financial security. He is the father of an only daughter after all. What can you expect?

Rooted and sturdy are not what he got though. He named me LittleCloud instead. Certainly it has an endearing ring to it, and it is appropriately reminiscent of my native roots. These are probably the actual reasons he chose this particular name. (Off the record, I’m not ruling out the possibility of the ‘littlecloud’ as a subconscious manifestation of my dad’s inner closet-hippie…that’s for another day though). Intentions aside, it has been 24 years since I was brought into the world and given a name to grow into, and that name is having its way with me. (I have my suspicions that it has always been my puppet master, but for the sake of brevity I’ll leave the child psychology for another time and place)

Let’s consider the qualities of a cloud for a minute. They are ever-changing, ever-moving, followers of the wind. They are waterlogged, silver-lined, and, according to Wordsworth, lonely. How does that sound dad? No, your daughter will not be building a house a few miles down the road from you and raising little pine-tree babies. Instead, she is going off to explore the world and probably fall in love with it. The whole thing. The world and the wind will shape and change her and she will just happily keep moving and seeing until she inevitably evaporates…or cries to death (too far with the cloud thing?). But you can rest assured that she will be optimistic about the whole experience! Loneliness is the only quality left, and for the sake of maintaining that lovely silver lining, it should probably just be left alone.

So there. That’s it. My dad unwittingly created a world traveler and I love him for it. (My mom does too because she wants to come visit me wherever I go ;)  I am about to embark upon my first really big adventure (hopefully the first of many, many more). I’m moving to South America to learn Spanish and teach English. So far the wind hasn’t steered me wrong.  So thank you dad, for not naming me Pine or Cypress. I’ll have a talk with the wind. I’m sure we can see about getting me back here every once in a while.