Hubby and I decided to do a road trip this weekend.  Our adventure would be to travel south to Virginia.  As some of you know, I spent some of my formative years in Virginia working my first job as a nurse.  I fell in love with the location and solidified my passion for nursing.  It was a challenging and rewarding time of my life.  I am fortunate to have made life-long friendships... people who are are truly my family.

This weekend is a homecoming.

I am writing today nestled in the Blue Ridge Mountains.  It is early morning and the sun has not yet shown itself.  It rained yesterday off and on during the entire six hour journey.  The rain tapered off through the night, giving way to a damp, foggy morning.  

Fortunately, there is no sign of Hurricane Matthew this far inland.

Here, the coffee is strong and steamy.  It is very quiet.  My mind and soul are at rest.

In this house, I sleep like a baby.  It is like tent-therapy.  When I camped frequently, sleeping in a tent was a peaceful experience... therapy.  My body would be tired from a day of fishing, and an evening campfire with friends telling stories and sipping libations.  I would slip into my down sleeping back and drift off to sleep.  Well, maybe not when it was a torrential downpour which led to a river flowing under the tent by morning!  That is a story for another time.

I feel fortunate to have more than one place to call home.  I am a person who enjoys being rooted.  I like a place to nest.  Our country home is just such a place.  Sure, I enjoy going away, experiencing all of the wide open spaces the world has to offer.  I enjoy my time wandering... exploring.  Then I come home.

I am so grateful that I learned that home is a safe haven.  Mum and Dad created that in my first home.  Although many years have past, and I have grown and have a home I call my own, THAT home is still "home".  

Yes.

Here in the heart of Virginia is "home" for me too.  More than the place, the people who have called this piece of heaven "home" for generations have welcomed me in and allowed me to be "me" here.  It is here that I fell hard on my journey.  It is here that I grew so much as a young person. It is here that my friends, now family, reached out a hand... and kicked my butt... and wrapped me in love.

This weekend I am home.