I am a creature of habit and when I return home for a visit I fall back into the hum of a very old routine. It is the drive down the river for a fresh lobster roll and a stroll along the boardwalk. I like to listen to the sound of the wind and gaze at the blue heron in the distant horizon.
It’s the familiarity of the landscape and the comfort of being close to water that ignites a quiet inspiration.
As I reflect back on this past summer with the thoughts of pints with friends, the warmth of my family, and the acquaintances who greet you on the street with a warm hello.
They are all a reminder that one of the greatest gifts in this world is the ability to connect with a warm smile or a gregarious laugh.
So as the west wind keeps me in one spot my heart always quietly yearns for the east coast. But blogging has helped to soothe that loss with the connection of friends throughout the world.
It is something that I am grateful for and smile to you for making me feel so much closer to home.
What does the word “home” mean to you?
Home is a place of familiarity where innate feelings stem from.
nice post..=)
Beautiful! Thank you! There really is a universal feeling to home – it’s just knowing.
home is a feeling to me… comfort, cozy, love, saftey…
great minds think alike – I think you will get a chuckle at my wordless wednesday post today…
Home should always feel that warm and soothing! I’m going over shortly to check it out
Wherever MTM is. That’s home to me.
Lovely!
With my family gone and the places of my early life so changed, I’ve become a bit like a turtle. “Home” is what I carry with me, a protective and dependable shell.
It is a very beautiful shell!
Home is a place I return to, giving me an unrivaled sense that I belong. When I’m there my heart enlarges and spills out over me like a muffin top. In leaving I feel restored, secured with enough rations to keep me until my eventual journey back.
It is a feeling of an over-abundance of love that we should all be so lucky to feel and cherish in our hearts.
This post spoke of many things I love, and your true appreciation of them is one of hte reasons I keep coming back to this Blog. My sense of home keeps changing, but sometimes it is in scenery, sometime it is memory and sometimes the look in my children’s eyes
Thank you! That is very kind. Children can make a home such a warmer and brighter place especially with their laughter. As for the scenery I love to inhale it’s fresh scent and enjoy the views.
Belle, the old cliche of “Home is where you hang your hat” is very true for me. Being an Army brat, I moved more than any child should, but every time we packed, it meant the possibility of starting over–tabula rassa, if you will. To this day, I still see my return to Spain in the summer as a way of leaving behind what I know best and delving into new but familiar experiences, if that makes sense. While it may be familiar to have coffee at my favorite bakery, it always brings the opportunity to meet someone new, taste a new pastry, drink from a new coffee mug. Sigh.
I think it is a definite experience as an army brat when you are constantly moving but knowing that your family is with you. Spain in the summer must have been beautiful and I can only imagine the warm people that you met in your travels.
Growing up an “Air Force brat,” I never even had a place I considered home until I moved to the Pacific Northwest 18 years ago. I do know that here feels more like home than any other place I’ve ever lived, if for no other reason because of its permanence. My whole life, I moved every three years without fail.
I would hate to move every three years – the fact that you finally settle into a routine only to pick-up and move again. I am glad you finally found your permanent spot that feels like home.
Beautiful, as usual!
Home to me, hmmm. It used to actually be a physical place – my grandmother’s house. But now her house is not hers, and she is gone. I’ve done a lot of mourning about it all, but I realized it was her that I missed the most. She was home. My parents, too, but they are far away, and in a place where I did not grow up. Really, now, I consider home to be with the people I love the most. My own parents – I feel like I am going home now when I go to visit them – and also my own little family.
Thank you! The people in our lives are really what make up a home. Sometimes I think the landscape is just the nice added touch.
Home to me is my family … I don’t mind changing house/relocating as long as I am with my family.
Family really is what makes a home feel warm.
I can relate to your picture of home, Belle. It’s familiar: there are things about home I would change but it’s the place my feet tread. Mine is a tall forest with the smell of pine and the sound of wind in the trees.
It sounds beautiful! I love that fresh forest smell it always very inviting
For me, Home are my childhood memories, mom and dad and siblings under one roof, sitting at the table together eating, listening to my father give thanks to God for another meal. Those memories warm my heart, and suddenly I am craving Home.
Beautiful! Those are the memories that we will always keep with us in our hearts