Well, the sun has started shining again, and that's awesome considering I'm headed back to Indiana for the long weekend. When you don't see people very often, whatever mood you are in at the moment is the one they think you are in all the time.
Now that I am really and truly seeing some of my family this weekend, and it feels more real, I am looking forward to it. Burying my head in my work has meant this time has sped along and I barely remembered to make a rental car reservation or solid plans with people.
I'm spending mornings with my dad, through lunch. Sunday, I am getting up spectacularly early to meet him before Mass and walk over to his parish with him. He is getting older and likes naptime in the afternoons, so that's when I will do my running about town.
My darling cousin, Denise, with whom I am staying, asked what I want to especially do. There isn't really a lot of time, so we have to be strategic.
We are OF COURSE going to the zappos outlet in Shepherdsville near Louisville. I am meeting up with friends on Saturday and Sunday nights. I will eat Donut Bank donuts with enthusiasm! I will find time to run at that lovely low elevation in clear air.
The rest are all little things. Chill out by the Ohio River, letting the humidity frizz out my hair and make my skin shine and breathe wetness into my xeric Arizona lungs. Put more flowers on my family members' graves. I doubt my cousin will tolerate my habit of sitting down on my mom's grave and having a long chat with her over Maker's Mark. I mean, it isn't like she is actually THERE anyway and I can talk to her whenever I want to, because she is always listening -when she isn't whispering into God's ear to take care of her little girl. Still, in a lifetime of leaving, that was the last place I left her, so it is special.
It isn't "home" the way some people look at home. My roots are deep there, but my branch tends to be like those little helicopters off a maple tree -the wind scatters where it will and we drift until the right soil comes along.
I suspect once my father passes away (hopefully quite a while from now!) my big draw to southern Indiana will pass as well. I treasure these visits more than I did when I was younger and thought everyone lived forever and that whenever I returned everything would all be the same.
Well, the Ohio River doesn't change, and I'm hoping Donut Bank doughnuts haven't either!
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