Slipping back into my realm

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A shot from the air as I approached our local airport.

Boy it is good to be home. It's lovely to travel, don't misconstrue me. But wow, I am glad to be back in my usual sphere.

Having made that distinction, I'll be stepping away again in a few days, lol. Need to visit other members of the family closer to home. Planes are great, but old fashioned road trips have their charms.

I didn't waste any time reclaiming my routine this morning; I sat with my most recent manuscript, plopped myself about two-thirds into it and read till I reached The End. My goodness I missed that aspect of my life, good to reacquaint myself with the writing in a very simple manner.

Summer is an intriguing season, known for getaways and warm days. Breaks from expected activities, reunions with beloveds. Long days permit all kinds of thrills, temperate evenings allowing for excursions apart from one's typical expectations. In winter I hunker down. In summer....

I want to experience heat and light and greenery. I wish to expand my horizons, both in departing from home and welcoming others here. This past week was full of granddaughter giggles, sister-in-law chats, and evenings spent with my daughter and her other half after their work days had ended. I listened to the lake lapping against the shore, as well as my own heart soaking up a different kind of quiet, removed from writing and sewing, fully immersed in a place separate yet teeming with others. Maybe writing is like that a little bit, juggling characters, but all those interactions are two dimensional, as well as of my own making, ha ha.

One other aspect of being on holiday is how otherworldly it seems, as though an alternate universe. Or maybe 2023 is the year of changed realities. I certainly felt different, in that I was the second eldest, but more stark was the notion of being on the other side of one's existence, where time speeds past in a blinding light, the awareness of life's brevity breathing down my neck. But I never felt threatened or trapped, merely grateful for the accrued decades, wisdom and insight and perspective rare gifts that balanced out aching knees and the like. I am a grandmother, no getting around that, but young at heart, and mostly healthy, thank you Lord!

And I'm aware that this life is centered on this day, despite impending plans for another trip, ahem. This day in late-ish July is sunny, breezy, warm. It's full of twittering birds and bees hovering over a variety of blooms. It's the gentle ping of wind chimes and the notable squawk of texts and the sense of how grand is our residence on this planet at this time in history. But also how minuscule is our presence, like the tender dragonflies that float nearby or the butterflies or seeds drifting amid the wind. Another fine line to tread, being cognizant of ourselves as vital cogs in the machine as well as crumbs in the universe. Yet we are here for some purpose, and this post is one of today's exercises in how best to live. To be grateful, mindful, content. It's a beautiful summer day in Northern California. Wishing you an equally awesome moment in this world.

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