Home again

It's the middle of a hot sultry summer in the northland. I am home in Duluth. I mean– I am at my home. I am home and no longer living in two places. This is it, we have arrived. It didn't seem like the day would ever come. It was a long process, longer than it takes most people to move. I couldn't fathom any other way to get a full house into an already full house but to move it a little at a time. I think we started making trips with our possession back in March. We finished with the final trip at the end of June. July 3rd we were having our first of a long list of summer guests. There are a couple of boxes yet to be unpacked, but I now feel settled. I wake early, however, never as early as my work days. I am just starting to wrap my head around being retired. I don't know if I will really have a sense of what that word feels like until September. After Labor Day has come and gone and I no longer set an alarm, well then, maybe I will comprehend this new chapter in my life.

I hope to savor these next few months like my favorite wine. The time always seems to flow by so quickly. I make the most of my days by becoming ever more mindful. Planting flowers and tending to them morning and evening is becoming a meditative practice. Watching something grow is bound to slow the frenetic pace I was keeping. The dog and I are exploring new paths and trails daily. Sitka has become an almost constant companion. Gerard spends this time trying to find his way through his things and create space for his work. We reconnect for meals and to sit on the deck and read. We are together, but our tasks are often solitary. We never drift too far for too long. But, I look forward to making time to reconnect on a soul level again.

Tonight the sky is an ever changing impressionist watercolor. The reggae music from Bayfront Park dances on its ledger right on up to my deck. I move to the beat of the one drop as if I were down there front and center. The rhythm is perfect in this heat and the breeze is enough to cool the dewy sweat beading on my skin as I dance. If I weren't as sure as I am that I am home in Duluth, I could be easily persuaded that I am in the islands. I drift easily and effortlessly into my dreams on the sweet reggae notes.