There's No Place Like Home

Driving to pick up our dog from the kennel this morning, I realized a well known phrase from the Wizard of Oz was running through my head, "There's no place like home, there's no place like home."

I do feel a little like Dorothy in the Wizard of Oz.  We both experienced some interesting travels and spent time with people we love and care about, but we simultaneously missed the loved ones we left behind while we were gone.  Like Dorothy, there were a few challenges to my trip. Traveling, whether on a yellow brick road, a plane, or a bus can be tiring. The purpose of my trip to Vancouver was not just for pleasure, but to be with my parents while my dad had surgery.  My role was mainly to be there for support, just as Dorothy supported the Scarecrow, the Tin Man and the Lion as they discovered their own strengths.  Happily, my parents were just as strong as all three of those friends from Oz.

I have always loved to travel.  I am grateful to have had the opportunity to go everywhere I was and see everyone I did in the past two weeks. My accommodations were all more than comfortable - well, perhaps with the exception of a night spent in a chair in a hospital room, and the pouring rain I experienced on a soccer field four hours from home the day after I got back to Montana!  Limited Internet access sadly interfered some with blogging, but my long TO DO list was untouchable and practically forgotten while I was gone.  These tasks confronted me though, as soon as I got home.  Spring arrived in my absence.  Everywhere I look I am sort of overwhelmed by outside chores calling my name, and my home begging for a good spring cleaning.  I already miss the loved ones I am no longer with.  Even so, there is just something that feels right about coming home.

"There's no place like home, there's no place like home."  Dorothy's mutterings after being caught up in a twister seem applicable this week in one more way.  I am so grateful I have a house to come home too, and that tornadoes are not something we are concerned about where we live.  With the devastation recent tornadoes have caused in parts of the United States, many families have lost their homes and been devastated by tragedy.  I can't even imagine what they are going through.  My heart goes out to them.

I think the events of the past few weeks have made me more aware than ever just how important it is to enjoy every moment for what it is, and make the most of it.  I am actually looking forward to tackling my TO DO list, to catching up with posts by blogger friends that I have missed, and to settling back into being home.  There's no place like home.

How do you feel when you come home after being away for a while?