Distance.... is relative

So, I sense distance in a friend. I've never been one to brag about my ability to read people but I do feel that I am attentive enough to usually notice things in behaviour and attitude in those around me. Sometimes I miss read or at least convince myself things are not there when they might be. So, really I am not sure about this one and it's a bit frustrating.

I've been back in GR, the place I feel very at home, having lived here for the last 6 years. I love it, my friends, my students, my co-workers, the pace and atmosphere, the land, the freedom, etc. During the last 6 months of being off and being away, I feel like everything is whizzing past my eyes, changing, moving on, becoming different. Sadly, I feel distance where there wasn't distance before. As a single person, having the close connection with my friends is of the utmost importance to me, and that's why the distance seems a tad alarming. I feel a bit lost, a bit misunderstood, a bit helpless and transparent.

I know part of it is to do with the uncertainty I feel about how my life is passing before my eyes, the uncertainty I now feel regarding how the school and staff are moving on without me, of how I am not sure how I even fit in anymore, how I have lost my niche. The other part of me is thinking to the new friends I have now met in NS and how loving and kind they have been to me, the bond that is now slowly but surely forming between us all. I feel lost between two very distant places, unsure as to where I should land and put root, wondering if I will ever fit in that warm nook that used to bring me such joy and comfort and wondering if that place of complete union and understanding that I once dwelled in will ever exist again for me.

How can 6 months change so much?!