April 8th

Dear Journal,

Oh, it feels good to be back in Mulgore for a few days.  It has been weeks since I have been home and I was finally able to slip away for a while.  I needed to come home to visit my family for a while and to make sure that my Mother was doing well.  Her last two letters sounded as if she were having trouble getting used to the fact that Naton and I were going to be away for quite some time. I honestly think that Naton enjoys the time in Pandaria much more than I do – being a Death Knight in Pandaria is a lot more pleasant for him than standing at the forges all day here in Thunder Bluff, I suppose.

It is definitely Spring in Mulgore – you can see the dried Winter grasses slowly turning to green and the trees are starting to blossom in some places.  Oh, not like they don’t blossom in Pandaria though – they just seem to never stop, like perpetual Spring.  The nights are definitely chillier here at home too – I know my first night back, I was definitely noticing the cold air. It’s just good to be home where the sights and smells are something that I have been yearning for.

I have to keep reminding myself that Mother is getting older and will eventually join with our ancestors and the Earth Mother in the near future and I keep trying to push that thought to the back of my mind.  I know that she was away, held captive as a slave with the Grimtotem, however, I have gotten used to her being back with the family.  I know that I have definitely missed her.  I miss the way that she spends literally hours gathering pine nuts to make into her famous food and I missed the peace of our home. I missed my two younger brothers too, Nahai and Tahfal and their constant bantering back and forth.

It’s good to be home, even if it is only for a short time.  I wish that this war didn’t have to break our families apart like this.  There are times that I wonder if the Earth Mother has truly given her blessing to our being in that strange land with the strange races that live there. There are times when I question why we are that at all.  I have decided that I really don’t care for Orcs, they smell worse in Pandaria than they do when I’ve gone to Orgrimmar.

If it weren’t for the fact that I had been ordered to go by our Chief, I would be sitting here in Thunder Bluff, I would have found a mate by now and would be starting my own family.  No, we have to go with the Horde and fight a fight that doesn’t seem to be all that glorious in my eyes. Naton and I have both agreed that we will return home as soon as possible and resume our lives with our people.

I look around the Bluff and I see the elders and the younglings, however, the people my age are definitely missing for the most part.  I know that all of my friends have been sent to Pandaria. Without the group at my age there will be fewer calves born here this Spring and fewer calves being created – that is the scary thing to me – we need this for our race to continue on.

I didn’t realize how much I had missed the peace and tranquility of Thunder Bluff until I finally came home.  I’ve been gone for so long that I’ve missed the seasons changing and I’ve missed the holidays that always were a wonderful part of life for me.  I’ve missed so much and the time has just seemed to fly by.   At least I made it home for the Faire and I know that we will be going to have some fun before I have to return.  I think that I could get word to Naton and let him know that it’s time for the Faire again because he always enjoyed that so much – I enjoyed watching him at the Faire too – he didn’t seem so different from what he must have been like before his change. I also enjoy hearing my Mother’s laughter when we all start acting silly and just enjoying being together again.

Oh, I’m still discovering the beauties of Pandaria, however, I’d much rather be home with my family. A Tauren is more about the Earth and peace than we are about warring with people that we have often been friends with in the past.  If I could roll back time, I would go back to where this was still so.

Mahamura Cloudhoof