There’s no place like home
“There’s no place like home, there’s no place like home” – Dorothy, Wizard of Oz
Home in MT or home on the road – both are “home” to me as they have their comforts in space and amenities and “family” in the form of my pets, but Montana and my little corner of it are truly HOME to me and it is good to be back.
There is also that poignant sadness at having completed a trip – the “adventure” is over, the challenge of travel done. I find myself reliving in my head all of the trip – each moment had it’s own flavor – humor, frustration, beauty, disappointment, joy, difficulty…special people and special family the highlight!
This trip had it’s challenges as well as it’s delights. Neither will be forgotten. It is the challenges though that make the fun retelling … I don’t think that I would have enjoyed Rving as a younger person. We have a choice when things go a bit or a lot awry…we can make the best of it, look for solutions and resolutions, laugh (after a few tears) or just get angry, frustrated, down…. It is all perspective as far as I’m concerned and as an older adult with some experience in things not going as planned, I’m better now at “going with the flow” than when I was younger.
My mother’s words to me as a child and young adult ring in my ears often, “You can bend like the willow or stand like the mighty oak which can break in a storm or strong wind”… I like to think and dearly hope that I have learned (mostly) to “bend like the willow”. And I hope that is as true for me in my everyday life as it is to me in travel.
So, this homecoming – different than any other. I’m still thinking about it. This is the first RV trip that I’ve left my house (vs rental, i.e. temp house) and been gone some time and then returned. A couple of things – I was gone 24 days and from the first night gone until the last night before returning I was in the company of other RVrs or friend or family – then abruptly back to the solitude of the woods, mountains and my little house. This coupled with I haven’t yet been a year in this house – June-mid-Aug are always tough for me – hating heat and the busy-ness of summer…
Also abruptly comes the loss of the need to manage power – I’m in a house again…I can turn on the microwave and the toaster and the blender and the fan is runnning… power management in my motorhome is somewhat constant and tends to govern what I will fix to eat and if I’ll run the vacuum, etc. Not huge in the scheme of things but tending towards over-importance as I “manage” comfort. Suddenly, it is all different – easier but I “miss” the routine that was part of travel.
Now, I do NOT miss not having my washer and dryer – I like clean, fresh clothes and bedding and I tend to overdo according to every RV park I’ve ever been – at home, no one knows but me!
However, downside to this habit – I accidentally washed my bluetooth headset L… It is charging and has the lights that say so – maybe it will “dry out” ok… It is the 2nd headset I’ve washed – same situation – stuck it in a shirt pocket then threw the shirt in the washer forgetting…. Oh, well – I do have a couple of spares and I’ve been getting Motorola email offers – maybe it is just time to upgrade???
For the record, this post IS from the front porch – it clouded up a bit, temp dropped to 87 and there is a breeze – warm/hot, but manageable… And another thing – I gave the spiders a respite – tomorrow is soon enough…
Bob and Karl’s version of “there’s no place like home”…
