Home & Horizon

This is the LAST last day of our vacation.  Yesterday was the last travel day.  Today is the Home and Horizon Day; come home, do laundry, put luggage away, recover the lawn (mow and water after two weeks of no mowing and little rain), process pictures, stories, and experiences, and then turn toward the horizon; begin planning for “re-entry” - back to jobs, chores, schedules, and routines.

Jörg and I went to a local diner for an early breakfast (jetlag means we beat the rush and arrived when they opened) where we recapped this vacation.  There is a sad but excited recognition that this was our last family vacation as Mom, Dad, and Kids.  From now on it will just be Husband and Wife.  Both kids made it very clear that they are done going on vacations with us and are ready to do their own thing.  It’s normal.  Not unexpected.  Appropriate.  But still comes - for this mom - with a hint of sadness.  After all, we have been on some epic adventures.

Things change, they always do.  But this change comes with both a sense of loss that our family vacation days are over and a real excitement for what lies ahead.  I don’t expect the adventures to stop, but they will definitely change.  It is the end of an era of sorts, a twenty-two year odyssey of married life, child-rearing, and trying to foster a sense of education and adventure in our kids.  Not just the “epic” - Germany by motorcycle, Cozumel cave hikes and scuba diving, or taking city tours of London, Berlin, or New York - but finding the adventure in the every day.  Life can have the epic, the big, the dramatic, and the once-in-a-lifetime, but finding the adventure and joy in the every day is so much more valuable.  Most of life is made of up of little events, small activities, seemingly insignificant decisions that ultimately blend together to build the fabric of life.

What fun things will the kids do?  What will they learn?  Where will they go?  Who will they meet?  Our kids will now go on to plan and experience their own adventures.  Some will be by air, some may involve a motorcycle or train.  Others will come from the pages of books or the interactions with peers and friends.

My next adventure will probably involve a compost bin, my secateurs, and several hours of weed pulling to once again reveal my lovely garden which has been overrun by weeds in my absence.  After that, maybe I'll plan a dive vacation!

Home.