Saturday, February 2, 2019 – Home

We pull into the driveway in the wee hours, barely coherent. We’ve been up for about twenty-four hours and, if my calculations with time zone change allowances is correct, traveling for more than half of that time. The thought comes unbidden, but speaks a tired truth: I’m too old for this.

Finally, after a late flight, and an unplanned stopover in Saskatchewan for reasons that are still unclear, we’re home. Dorothy was right: whether it’s Kansas or Kamloops, there’s no place like it. We leave our luggage unpacked and fall into bed, exhausted.

I wake after a couple of hours, confused. I swing my feet over the edge of the bed and sit—a new and intentional practice to test for vertigo—then stand. My feet feel carpet, not marble. Home.

I pad to the bathroom on legs still shaky from having spent too long in a plane, then return to the comfort of my own bed, and sleep. It’s light when I wake. I’m still tired, but rested enough (barely) for the time being.

Soy milky frothy coffee arrives from the kitchen, delivered by another weary sojourner. No latte on the beach watching the Caribbean sun rise this morning. Instead, I sip coffee while looking out the bedroom window at the familiar brown hills of home as they, too, declare the glory.