Where is home???

Last night Mom and Dad and I went to Bruce and Jo's for one more family get together before they left for Texas this morning. We had supper and laughed and shared family stories. It was a wonderful evening. I slept on the couch in the living room...knowing people I love were in the same house slumbering in beds. It is always a good feeling to have someone you love under the same roof when nighttime falls.

After many hugs and good byes, they left for Texas as Jo and I, arm in arm, waved as long as we could see them. It was just last weekend that I had to say good bye to

I came home to unpack and settle into my house. They had left me a card on my bed and a dozen French harlquin dolls hidden all over to cheer me up. The weather is lovely..cool and clear...my house is big...it is quiet, and I am deeply saddened.

"Goin' Home"

My favorite musical group is Molasses Creek from Ocracoke Island (of course!) They have a wonderful song, Cedar Island Ferry, that has a line or two in it which says, goin' home....

So, that is what I have done. Philip drove me to Norfolk where we spent time with his brother, Buddy, and sister in law, Elaine. It was wonderful to meet his brother. We left late in the afternoon for my early evening flight to Fort Wayne. I truly was numb with sadness...my summer was so wonderful...Philip has become my best friend. But, alas, responsibilities were waiting for me here in Indiana...my teaching job, my son and his wife with the new baby coming soon, my sister and her family, my house, my storytelling, my friends. A bonus is that my parents are still here and livng with me this week until Friday. Or should I say I am living with them? After all this time, I feel like a guest in their home. It is wonderful and I love spending time with them here.

So, little by little, Indiana becomes home...the house at White Picket Gardens becomes where I live. But there is someone a thousand miles away that I think of daily.

The End of the Story....

There is an old John Denver song, "well, my bags are packed and their ready to go..I'm standing here outside your door, already I'm so lonesome I could cry."

Except for me, I have cried...many times this past week. I knew mid-August would come, but I hoped it wouldn't come this soon.

I will miss each part of this summer...showers outside, walks on the beach, gin and tonic on the pizer, lunches in the treehouse, working in the shop, rain and hurricanes, new friends, the scent of cedar...I will miss Philip.

scented cedar trees
salt water mist on my tongue
sand between my toes

whispering breezes
hot, still, humid nights
long shadows at dark

droplets of aqua
hurricane bursts ofwater
tears or ocean spray?

Good bye, sweet summer.

So, what about Charley?

We were sure it was coming again this time..category 5, winds up to 200 miles per hour...and no one was going to be caught out in the wind this time. Tourists were evacuated, cars put up on high grounds...proclamations were posted in the village. Some folks even boarded up shops and homes. It is quite interesting here with the tourists gone..no trafic..no folks walking on the wrong side of the road..no one taking photos of "us" doing normal household chores, hanging out the laundry??

We had champagne and naps...and he never showed up. Ahhh, just as well, the tourists will be back as I write..the ferrys will bring them and we will serve them.

Now what about Danielle?