Home Again – Day 1

My time away from home on the road trip (Maryland to Texas to Missouri and back to Maryland) was from April 17 to June 2. It was my longest time away from home since my junior year of high school when I traveled with an Up with People cast/traveling high school; I was away from home for semester length stints then. This time was very different both because of the intervening years of experience, returning to my own home/husband rather than my parents, and more recently impact of the pandemic but there was a similarity too – coming home was a return to the place I felt most secure after going out into the world with some anticipated trepidation.

The first thing I did when I got home to Maryland was to walk down the driveway taking a few pictures. I had missed almost all the iris blooms. There were only 2 flowers remaining…no more buds. The day lilies were beginning, and the deer had not eaten very many (yet). The Virginia creeper was vigorously growing up the oak tree. The trees and yard had filled out while I was away.

I unpacked the car…tried to disperse items close to where they could be put away. For some reason I was exhausted even though the drive had been easy…and sedentary. Being home again felt odd instead of ‘normal.’ I was grateful that my husband had kept things in good order while I was away. Somehow the list in my head of what I needed to do felt overwhelming. More about that in tomorrow’s post.