We are HOME!

We were home. The fireplace was blazing only hours after the car was unpacked. Looking into those gold and blue flames was as exciting as anything I’d experienced  in the last few months:

All very nice, but the fire had them beat.

Still there was something missing. Over the years, there was always one of our kids, or a grandchild, bursting out the door to greet us. There was my dad down the street, eager to hear every detail about our travels. There was my mother, waiting for me to bring my knitting and some pecans for her to shell and keep her company.

Then there was our horse Tackett, just over the way at Quarterfield Farms, waiting for us to brush him, bring him treats, and let him rest his big head on our shoulders. Tackett has been gone a year. There is no longer a cat or a society finch to talk to us when we unlock the door. As beloved pets passed away, we have refrained from taking new ones because of asthma in the family.

It was way too quiet around the house, even with snapping flames. The baby birds we rehabbed this summer had grown and gone. Though there was a visitation just before we left on our last trip. Car all packed, ready to pull out and close the garage door when suddenly a catbird flew in. She flew back and forth through the rafters, never dipping down to get a good look at the open garage doors. We couldn’t close the doors and leave, and we couldn’t get her to fly out. Finally, Robby caught her in a towel. It seemed a miracle. She did not mince words when he released her outside.  Catbirds are very good scolders.

It was way too quiet in our back yard, but then the word got out. Suddenly the air was full of robins. Some sat reproachfully on the edge of the murky, stagnant water in the bird bath. One sat on the head of the stone girl who holds the fountain bowl. They boldly hinted: Clean the bird bath and get the fountain pump working again.

Robby scrubbed up the bird spa and filled it with clean fresh water from the rain barrel.  Such happy birds they were, bathing and splashing! And we were happy, too, to be greeted and needed upon our return.  We were indeed home.