I’m back home to my front porch swing and bird friends. Man, it was hot out today. Didn’t sit in the swing and ponder because it was just too humid and too hot. I’ve gotten spoiled to air conditioning on my trip. All the bird feeders were empty and I sweated out my clothes filling them up. Soon as I put all the full feeders back the cardinals and fighting finches were lighting on them. Two tomatoes are almost ready for picking. Yahooo! Can’t wait for a tomato sandwich on soft white bread. Little fresh cucumbers on the side. Nothing better!

Penelope and I went back to the porch, to the swing and playpen, about dusk to do some pondering. The sky was collecting grayish purple rain clouds and the clouds were trying to decide whether to rain, to storm, or to change shapes and swiftly float away. A short shower had cooled the porch and it was so pleasant. A few firecrackers popped and terrified Penelope so we came back in. Don’t think she’ll hear all the fireworks in the house because the window unit air conditioner will drown the sound out.

I had a pretty blue sky, sunny day’s ride back home to Roanoke mid-morning. Saw lots of red, white, and blue traditional Fourth of July buntings decorating store fronts and homes. I loved seeing a couple of huge flags. We are so fortunate to live in a free country and have the freedom to live the life we choose. July 4th commemorates the adoption of the Declaration of Independence which gave America its freedom from British rule. Guess we could call it America’s birthday, too.

It’s good to be home. We all long for home for its comfort and security. The familiarity of home, surrounded by family photographs and things we love, gives us peace. And who doesn’t enjoy the comfort of the first night back in your own bed after being away from home. Our homes are where we make memories and where we can just be ourselves. I love the phrase, “Make yourself at home.” I’ve said that many times to family and friends.

I’ve been watching a documentary on the homeless. So sad to see the folks who are just castaways from their families. Lots of them struggling with drug addictions, trying to just stay alive from one day to the next. Their homes, a shelter for the night, a cardboard box, a park bench, a cement underpass. I was struck with sympathy for a fourteen year old girl who had been on the streets for two years. The filmmaker asked her where she lived and she pointed and said, “My home is over there under the overpass.” Her home…. Her conception of home was the safety of other homeless people who often camped together. They protected her against predators.

Again, I am counting my blessings and appreciating my home. Chief always told me if something happened to him to go home to my family in Roanoke. My home has an empty space here without him but the memories are filling up that space and keeping him with me. He’s in his heavenly home now with Rosalyn. And I know I’ll be reunited with them one day.

When you see a dog wandering down the road or the highway you know they’re looking for their home or a home where they will be loved and fed. Guess every creature yearns for home and its comforts. There’s no place like home!

“Mid pleasures and palaces though we may roam, be it ever so humble, there’s no place like home,” — John Howard Payne