As part of this series, I conduct interviews with fascinating people who have resided all over the country and the globe. These occasional interviews appear as podcast episodes (available through your browser or on various podcast apps) and while the starting place for these interviews are questions about physical “homes”, we get to talk about all sorts of other things that are (or are not) “home” in their lives.
For this month’s edition, I’ve got a special treat: the first episode of the Home is a Changeling podcast!
My first guest is my brother, Commander Carl Ellsworth, U.S. Navy. Carl has served as a Naval Aviator (and more) for nearly two decades, and has lived in many, many different locations all over the world. Naturally, I wanted to chat with him about some of his experiences, and I was very interested in what “home” means to someone who has lived all over the place (and not always in locales of his own choosing).
My brother and I are both sunnyside-up, glass-half-full kinds of people. Throughout our lives we’ve always been two peas in a pod, with the same sense of humor and optimistic outlook on life. And yet, we chose divergent paths out of high school—paths that have, incredibly, now led us back together to the same physical location, thousands of miles from the place we originally called home.
Anyway, give a listen to learn more about what it’s like to live on the “floating city” of a Naval Aircraft Carrier for months at a time (No windows! No privacy! No silence!), “Plebe” (freshman) year at the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland, and the strange—but rewarding—trajectory of military life.
We also touch on some good ol’ sibling stuff, such as life in Columbia, South Carolina in the ‘80s, our childhood home and our last night there as a family of three, and Carl’s surprising (or not) answer to the question: Where is home for you?
Note: I’m not a podcaster or actual interviewer, and I’m still figuring it out, refining my questions, shaping my interview style, etc. This was my first time using the Substack software for recording purposes; you’ll also notice I don’t use any of that smooth intro music that those other guys might employ. I plan to keep these podcast episodes pretty straightforwardly produced (which may also change down the road if I get excited about editing). My hope is that the conversations will stand on their own without too much extra fanfare.
Final Note: The views expressed here are solely those of Carl Anthony Ellsworth, Jr. and do not represent the views of the United States Navy. (In case you were wondering).
Final Final Note: Next month will be another essay, but you’ll want to listen to this interview first; some common themes will emerge between them (and let me know if you have a guess about what—or where—I’ll be focusing on for next month’s essay)!
Reflection questions:
What is a meaningful image from your childhood that you carry with you to this day?
If you could live your life all over again, would you make the same choices that you’ve made until this point in time? Why or why not?
Image: The Siblings Ellsworth, Olan Mills Photography, 1985.
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