Home and home

We should come home from adventures, and perils, and discoveries every day with new experience and character.
-Henry David Thoreau

Back, finally! I have been a very poor blogger this past week due to technical difficulties (no internet). I returned yesterday from an over weeklong trip to visit my parents. Not only do they not have internet, they don’t even have electricity in one of their houses! (Instead of one house, they have three small houses on their property.) It was really nice actually, to disconnect for a bit and just be. I have always loved to travel because it gives you such a good perspective, keeps your eyes open and looking, and being away has always given me a fresh vision and renewed inspiration. I guess this is my traveling, as I can’t get away like I used to (one day soon though). Sometimes I feel so inundated with communication that I need time away like I need to breath.

We stayed in the house without electricity. We made fires every night and talked into the evening illuminated by the soft glow of candlelight. We talked about how nice it was to not watch tv, to just have the chance to sit in stillness and connect with one another. If I could, I would light my home in candles and lanterns and not even have a tv. My husband would not take kindly to me taking us back to the 1800’s, he likes his tv a lot! So do I, but I think that it is really nice to be without it more often than not. There is something so centering about it.

I was nice to be back in my hometown but I am glad to be back in my adopted home. I like the energy here. Even if I am being quiet and doing my own thing I still feel like I’m not missing out on anything because I can just look out the window and watch the busy street for a minute—a balm to my restless nature. I love all the options I have here, the variety, the different beauty, the way nature and city combine, the anonymity you get from a city combined with the friendliness of a not-so-big city. For me, this is perfect, sitting still and watching the world go.