"Every day is a journey, and the journey itself is home."
~ Basho
We got back to a wet, fog masked Seattle this evening from the cold but sunny farmlands of Kansas. A dank, dense veil of mist hung with a long, drawn face and wrapped the naked, cold arms of the trees. What comfort its misty, chilly embrace offered the forlorn branches, I know not of. But they looked just fine. The festive spirit perhaps?!
Getting back home is always such a comfort. It is for me at least. The everyday ordinariness of the scenes that unfold in front of your eyes - the faint morning sun streaming through the windows, the casually flung book on the coffee table, the green from the bamboo plant decking up the kitchen window, the shy glitter of the sequins from a wall hanging by the warm lamplight, the worn pair of fuzzy slippers by the couch side... I could just go on and on! Such inconsequential, quotidian details yet when pieced together, they create the most perfect picture of belonging and warmth.
True, once the hounding beast of monotony creeps in, the walls begin to look a lot like those of the Lady of Shallot's. 'Half sick of the shadows', the heart longs for an escape. But such is the tug and pull of the word home that once away, the urge to get back becomes equally intense. After all, home is where the heart is, they say.
You paint such a picture of coming home and the tension between complete and utter satisfaction at being there, and the always-present tug to get out - to burst out - to explore and escape the tedium.
ReplyDeleteFor the present, or at least for the next week, I hope that home will satisfy.
I am a home lover and I like to travel. So I understand! But it’s challenging to beautify and to love our everyday life. It’s a struggle against monotony
ReplyDeletePondside: staying at home was never more tempting, what with the dropping temperatures and the vindictive rains..
ReplyDeleteCeline: couldn't agree more! Constant struggle it is.
What a beautiful line: "The everyday ordinariness of the scenes that unfold in front of your eyes" There is a fine balance for sure with travel and home. I like to embrace a little of both.
ReplyDeleteAlexandria, exactly my feelings! Thank you so much for the lovely comment.
ReplyDelete