Back "Home"?

There are times when I miss the things of back "home". I put the word in quotes because I don't really have a home town. I moved throughout most of my growing up years and so I don't really "feel" as if I have a real hometown. But I have family where we used to live...and if home really is where the heart is...well, I guess my heart is in the broad area over which my family is scattered.

Would I like to move back? My heart is torn over that. It would definitely be nice to live closer to family. My fifth grandchild is on his/her way. I have a new future daughter in law. I have inlaws in different areas. But I could live with all of them any place. If I ask about going back and leave the family out of the question...it is very different.

There are two main areas where we used to live...where my children are living and where we used to live over the mountain from them. I would not want to move where they are...traffic, heat, etc. But where we used to live...it would be nice. There are a lot of things I do miss about that area, including a fantastic therapist and some friends.

I miss having more motorcycle riding weather. Although, since mine is not running, I guess that is a moot issue. We only had two seasons where we were living...warm, dry summers and wet, chilly winters. I was so looking forward to four seasons here. Well...we seem to kinda have three and a half. I miss the real snow of winter.

So, I am kind of torn on the weather. I also like the thunderstorms, something I really missed when we moved to CA. On the other hand...there are enough of them here to make motorcycle riding a bit of a challenge.

I hate tornado warnings. They make the gusty winds very unnerving for me. I would rather have an earthquake anyday. It happens and, except for a few aftershocks...it is pretty much over. And they rarely happen. I cannot count how many tornado warnings we have had since moving here. I find that to be rather stressful. It would not be nearly so if we were actually set up for them...like in a real house...with a basement!

What other differences? Oh yes! Health food stores. I had several I could go to and in the last place we lived I could even walk to one if I needed to. I could also walk to my therapist's office if I wanted. Church was fairly close by. There were all different kinds of stores. And there was Marie Callendar's restaurant, along with a couple of other favorite places. Within one county we had almost all that we really needed.

It was almost like a mix of semi-rural and towns. We had the ocean and the mountains. You could drive to the snow. We used to go to Lake Tahoe. That was so beautiful...both in the summer and the winter.

There were also quite a few retreat places around...Christian camps. We even lived at one for a while. There are definitely things I miss about that area. But I would also miss this place if we left...like the Autumn. I love the Autumn. It is my favorite season and it was not a very strong season at all where we used to live. I missed Autumn and Winter both when we moved to CA.

I miss the beach, too. It was not that I went a lot...but it was nice to drive along the coast...and nice to visit the beach when it was a little bit cool. I loved the waves. I loved the mountains. It was really pretty in the county where we lived the last 11 years I was there. The previous 30 were on the other side of the mountains...where my children live now. 40 years ago...it was OK. But now it is very crowded...highly congested.

It is easy to think of there when I run into difficulties here. But truthfully, we would have had difficulties there, too. It is a very expensive place to live. In fact, it was the rising property values that allowed to refinance our house more than once to live off of while Dave was out of work. Housing costs there are insane.

So, here I sit, in my little RV on the hillside, thankful for what I have. I heard the other day that if we have a house, a car and clothing, we have more than 98(?) percent of people in the world. Well, I am not sure if you count a tiny RV as a house...but we do have a shelter plus the other two. *smile*

I am thankful most of all...to be wherever Yahweh wants us to be. There are good things about being here. I love the view. I love the animals. I love the butterflies in summer. I love the creek...even when it is high...just wish we did not have to drive through it. Life is hard here. I won't deny that. But it also has a beauty of its own. And we are growing as a result of living here. We are having to trust our Abba/Father in so many ways...and that is good. Life is an adventure! But the greatest adventure of all is yet to come!