Where In the World??

All this week since I got home I've heard the comment over and over, "Wow, you sure have been traveling a lot." It's a theme and I can't deny it. I have been gone a lot, ever since June. Because I'm blessed, my life here still held together. The only child has found safe places to feel like home, the animals have friends who care, and all is well. But I am going to write about it again, so feel free to move on and wait till I start writing about life in Maryland once again.

After the big Europe trip I was home about a week and flew off to Chicago for a teaching gig, then a week and a half after that, went to Utah for the big Leave-the-daughter-at-College trip, then 2 days after that, Eric and I flew to California for a long-planned trip for just the two of us. So that adds up to 17 more days in August/Sept. away from home. All good, and I'm grateful.

The thing is that I love travel. I love the simplification of living out of a suitcase because when I'm home, I just collect stuff and then have the stress of too many choices. In Europe I wore the same 6 things for 3 weeks and it was great. Thinking about that tempts me to empty my closet...

I love the newness of every day when I travel. Routine is not my best thing, in fact I always feel a little actual depression when faced with the same place and the same stuff to do every day. So traveling works for my psyche.

But travel is not real life. At least not my current real life. Maybe someday it can be a full-time thing for me as it is for some people, but right now, home is where my most important work still is found. Right now I feel a little disconnected from that everyday life.

So it's good and right to be home. As good as it was to travel and see more places and collect a few more magnets as evidence. And take more photos as further evidence.

Lots of meaningful things happened. A few hard things happened. Mostly wonderful things happened.  As I mentioned before, the reason my body is tired (and that I might seem a little stuck right now) is because my mind is still racing a little bit to process everything I've done, from helping plan and lead a major youth activity for 150 kids to experiencing the Continent, to supporting my daughter's decision to attend college 2500 miles away, to spending some lovely time with friends. It was all pretty intense and time has just sort of frozen. The things back in June seem both eons ago and yet very immediate. In between I got a new calling and have now jumped in with both feet to help lead our youth organization while the gal in charge is off traveling herself. And it's all jumping around in my mind like movie trailers-bits from this trip, impressions and feelings from that. It's a fun problem to have and I'm not complaining, just going through a little re-entry gravity sickness. Bear with me.

The photos of California are coming soon, because it was spectacular. I'll treasure that trip for a long time. The albums of Grandma's birthday and Europe are in production and hopefully will be done soon.
And now, to guide my re-entry, I have lots of work to do. Knitting designs to submit, photo shoots to proof, a new website to design, and all that good stuff. I have a wonderful life right here and I'm looking forward to getting back into it.