Home

As I write this on April 3rd, I have been in Scotland nearly 3 months.  I return to Atlanta 2 weeks from tomorrow, which has caused me to reflect on what I look forward to (and don't look forward to) about that fast-approaching event.

What I look forward to most of all is seeing my children, my sister, my friends, and my little dog Daisy.  I also look forward to showing Lynden the Atlanta area and as much of the southeastern US as we can possibly squeeze in.

What I look forward to least of all is the heat and humidity, which can be so energy-sapping.  I just hope there will be a few weeks of weather that is not oppressively, stiflingly hot.  Hey, I can dream, right?

There will be lots of catching up to do with friends, lots of errands to run and things to take care of - God only knows what's become of my mail since I have long since exceeded my already-specially-extended hold period! - but I'm sure all of that will sort itself out in due course. 

With any luck, I will remember how to drive, and remember to do it on the right-hand side of the road!  I am sure I will fall back into some old habits, but perhaps I will also bring some newly-made ones back to Atlanta with me.  I know that things will feel both familiar and strangely foreign, the way they did when I first arrived here.  It's remarkable how quickly the unfamiliar becomes familiar, and the familiar becomes habit, until you don't even notice it anymore.

But Scotland is not one of those things.  Today dawned with a startlingly beautiful 4-6 inches of snow.  Even though it was in the weather forecast as a very real possibility, it followed a week or more of spring warmth and sunshine, and consequently the world was made new again, easy to see with fresh eyes.  So profoundly beautiful, I know I will miss it terribly.

I have felt so at home here.  Home:  it's a powerful word.  Home.  It's more than the place where you have your belongings.  It's the place where you can be your truest self, where you can relax in your own company, and read, think, or do absolutely nothing.  It's the place you long to return to when you have been away, or when you're tired or don't feel well.  Home is a feeling, a state of mind.

I know I'll be back.