Soon to Go Home

Late Sunday night . . . My niece and nephew and I went for a walk today in a forest filled with azaleas . . .what incredible beauty.

I'm due to fly home Tuesday morning. Been tracking SD weather and it looks like the new incoming snow might taper off Monday night. And tomorrow morning I'll check the backyard pool here and see if I can finally jump in for a swim!! My brother-in-law, Jim, and my nephew, Jon, worked endlessly to have the pool ready for me, only to discover the pool had leaks and all their laborious work literally drained out into the yard. Then rains and lightning and thunderstorms delayed repairs. The last couple days they have redone all the work, trying to have it ready for me to use. What sweetness on their part. The temperature has dropped into the 60's here (tee hee to my SD family, with wind chills in the single digits, according to weather.com), but I'm determined to honor all my MS family's hard work by getting into the pool tomorrow, no matter if it qualifies me for the Polar Bear Club. But I might wait until they are home from work to photograph the event. Then again, tomorrow might actually be in the 70's and maybe I'll actually laze in the pool before plunging back into SD winter . . .

My time here has been lovely, sweet, restorative, healing, and just plain fun. What a blessed time.

away from home

I've been down in Mississippi for a week now, with my sister. 60-70 degrees, sunny now. Back home in South Dakota is shut down with a spring blizzard. Yesterday I walked down a path by the library and had these azaleas tower over me.

Besides having a lovely time with my sister and her family, plus a two-night visit from our brother and his wife, I am also experiencing more healing regarding my own life. Being away from my own house for over two weeks enables me to gain some mental distance from it. I've been wrestling with what to do with my life--from the sublime "What is my life's purpose?" to the mundane "What do I do with all this stuff?" I'm experiencing the expected shifting and changing and renewing associated with the natural event of children growing and leaving home, and also the UNexpected shifting connected with the UNnatural event of an unwanted divorce.

This time--away from home, and with dear family--is filling me with new direction and purpose. For that I give heartdeep thanks.