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| Udvar-Hazy, 05 March 2017 |
Saw my mom, both of my brothers, my sister-in-law, nephew, and my niece and her boyfriend Charlie. A decent guy by the way, he's from Down East (as some say) the state of Maine. We all went out to a very nice inn in Chester, Vermont for an excellent Thanksgiving buffet. Sure, it's not like eating at home, but it is sure a lot less work. (Though damme I miss those leftovers!)
Not as cold as last year, but still brisk. Some remnants of a snow storm a couple of days prior were still to be seen, but last year it looked (and felt) more like February. This year it was what folks call "seasonal." (As in "quit yer bitching, it's late November, it's supposed to be like this.")
It was good to go home.
What sparked all this? A profound (as they often are) Beans comment on my Friday recycled (i.e. "rerun") post. To wit...
Life is changing, sometimes more rapidly than I care for, but I'm only riding the train, I'm not driving. So far the ride has been awesome, sure, there have been rough patches, but I have no real complaints.
Life is what it is. I am blessed, probably beyond what I deserve, but there you go.
It was nice to go home, then return home again. Home is where one finds love.
That's all I really want.
November was a good month.
Time for a musical interlude, this song really speaks to me.
Home
Taylor Hawkins, Chris Shiflett, Nate Mendel & Dave Grohl
(Source)
Wish I were with you
But I couldn't stay
Every direction
Leads me away
Pray for tomorrow
But for today
All I want is to be home
Stand in the mirror
You look the same
Just lookin' for shelter
From cold and the pain
Someone to cover
Safe from the rain
All I want is to be home
Echoes and silence
Patience and grace
All of these moments
I'll never replace
No fear of my heart
Absence of faith
All I want is to be home
All I want is to be home
People I've loved
I have no regrets
Some I remember
Some I forget
Some of them living
Some of them dead
All I want is to be home
Can't argue with that...
Nice tune Sarge, fits the mood this morn.........
ReplyDeleteI rather like it.
DeleteWe are fortunate that the majority of my relatives on my side of the family all live local. So the get-togethers aren't difficult to get to. Although, the much needed rain did slow the arrival. I went to pick up my son and it was near white-out conditions on the freeway with the amount of rain that was coming down. Glad you made it home safely.
ReplyDeleteWe had pretty good weather going up and coming back. It rained like crazy Wednesday night, took my niece a lot longer to get to NH from Maine than usual. We even had thunderbolts and lightning...
DeleteYes, it was.
Very very frightening, indeed.
Delete😁
DeleteI think of life as a plane trip with the occasional turbulence. So far I have little to complain about, its been a good ride but I expect to hear the wheels drop before long.
ReplyDeleteI like that analogy, a lot.
DeleteWatch the flaps, they deploy those before the gear goes down.
Every moment, every experience is unique. You can go back to the place they happened and remember how it was but that is a memory. Today is the time for new memories...
ReplyDeleteIt sounds like you had a good trip!
It was very good.
DeleteHey Old AFSarge;
ReplyDeleteHome is where the heart is and I am blessed. When I was growing up, we moved every couple of years because of my Dad's PCS moves. I missed out on the "home" experience, but on the other hand I saw stuff that most of my classmates only read about. It is a trade-off.
I tried to stay put as much as possible during my career. I had no interest in climbing the rank structure and just wanted to do my job. Didn't get past E-7 but the kids didn't have to deal with moving every couple of years. I was good with that.
DeleteLearned very early, due to Dad moving, that 'Home' was people.
DeleteSmall birthday parties, really just the family gathering for cake outside (parents were very smart, no cake inside until we hit teens...)
Big Thanksgiving dinner, again, mostly family and lost bachelors and lost temporary bachelors.
Christmas was like Thanksgiving, but with Mom's Grandmother. And assorted lost bachelors and lost temporary bachelors.
Then we finally stopped moving in '73, so 'Home' actually coincided with a reasonably permanent physical 'home' address. Then 'Home' shifted when I got married. Sure, we went down to 'home' to do extended family, but we always returned 'Home' to our new 'home.'
But then again, I've been accused of being weird, so, well, my interpretation of the various meanings of 'home' may not apply to the rest of you.
Naw Beans, that corresponds pretty well with my recollections of "home".
DeleteBeans - Until I retired, home was just us, a tight-knit crew. Hopefully we'll always stay close in heart. (Distance, not so much.)
Deletejuvat - The military life, in many ways I miss it.
DeleteNailed it, Beans!
DeleteYup.
DeleteWe're getting blizzarded today. Stiff winds blowing new and old snow into a frenzy of near-zero viz, drifts, and cold. Power out in town, still on out at the ranch.
ReplyDeleteThe fourth generation home is lovely and I get to go back to a new place every day.
Navy homes are the places I can never return to. Just as well, I'm too old to be getting threwn in jail all the time!😇
Great post Sarge.
Hahaha!
DeleteThanks Shaun!
You can not enter the same rver twice. Gosh those ancient Greeks were smart!
ReplyDeletehere have a good song that about going home..
https://youtu.be/7z9wd9bS1FM
Now that's an old favorite right there!
Delete