Oh we are so very close now. It is amazing how time flies when you are having fun. I was just reading a post on FB from a friend who looks at her last days of her trip to be bittersweet. It is such an interesting word choice and yet so apropos. Soon I am going to be doing the same thing, heading home to my home, but with a bittersweet taste left as I say a ‘so long’ to family and friends here to embrace family and friends there. How does that work? Not that I am a social butterfly by any stretch of the imagination but I have both wonderful family and friends here and there. So the angst of leaving is squashed and squished by the joy of arriving. Is that not a paradoxical quandary to be facing? LOL. You betcha!
It reminds me when travelling anywhere in Canada or going out of country. There is a part of me that has not left home. Many a time travelling and camping through the States or when I was fortunate to travel much later in life to Kenya that my home called to me. It was time to return. As much as I am glad to be where I am and enjoy the blessings bestowed to me here, a call to the heart means it is time to head home.
There, one puts the hat up and nestles down into the sounds of routine at home. I cannot express in any understandable way that feeling when I see the red shore of the island. I have always been struck by the colours of PEI shores and traditions. It takes on this flavour of rich welcome where it calls from the warmth bask of the sun. The red hues of the island’s sand rock and soil with the backdrop of breath taking brilliance of greenery hues in its natures’ interior. It is not more or less than other places in the world but for my heart, it is home.
So waiting patiently, obviously not doing a good job of it, as there is still a ways to go, the trip home draws near. Of course having company to share the journey home with is an opposite feeling for said companion. It will be a home away from home for my daughter which I just experienced in these last few months with her. Thankyou. Grateful to have a pillow for my head to enjoy the fruits of being a Rara, daughter, sister and friend with many in my life here, I now get to return to home and do the same with family and friends there. It is funny how that works.
You do not know what you do not know until it is taken away from you. Not literally taken away, but put on pause in order to do what needs to be done. If nothing else one learns from the wake of Covid, it has emphasized quite categorically that family and friends, human contact and interaction, are needed in ways that you did not know you miss until circumstances happen.
I cannot begin to fathom the pain and turmoil of some of the people on this earth that are in constant fear and suffering. There is no home for them which should be one’s castle. Right? Feeling safe and secure even when things may seem crazy and spin like, you should have a home to rest your weary head. I pray for the circumstances and decision-making of those who have caused such destruction to the very essence of human dignity and life. Why? Oh, Why? Why should one b fighting for a home. It is not right nor just. I pray for the hope of calm and peace to come into the hearts and minds of all people. Please.
So I take this life given and be steadfast in knowing life changes in a blink of an eye. I recall riding in the back of our family car as a child as we travelled to my dad’s homestead to visit his folks for many summers. We would always leave early, around 4 am in the morning, and travel all day, destination ‘down home’. That phrase has stayed with me as long as I remember. Not sure what the draw was entirely but the drive along old number 2 highway, along the river, up to what used to be the old covered bridge, it felt like home. Old worn white siding farmhouse, with its quaint character and charm, had the goods. The happy, the fun, the joy, the food…can’t forget that. But most of all, the love within each nook and cranny, from days gone by with family and friends. I could feel it.
Home. A place that is a reflection of you or hopefully you. A beginning and an end to one’s day for the most part which soaks up the stories, the laughs, the sorrows…and all in between. It is a sanctuary like no other where you can settle in all cozy and warm and just be. You can hang out in pjs, casual wear, or the messy. Who is going to know for goodness sake? Well that depends if you live alone or not. You may not be able to escape for the quiet you may seek if sharing. LOL. You know when you do not want to be known as a mom or a sister or a daughter (ye gents, you can substitute to suit) or an ‘anyone’….I just want one minute for self. Ergo, bathroom…with lock. Hah. It does not matter for locks can be picked. Aahh. But regardless home is where the heart lies open and revealed.
Take me home, country road (or four-lane highway). Blessings.
Let us pray for those whom are in need of prayers and for those who seek home.
Karenpondering 