Home Is Where the Heart Is

Being a snowbird requires a bit of magical thinking. The meaning for "home" has to be modified to fit where you are, not where your house is. In fact, my first blog's name was Always at Home because in my younger days I would begin redecorating if I lived in a motel for more than one day.

I don't do that anymore. It was wearing me out. However, I still am a nester that can make a home out of a packing crate. It is a gift I think.

Easter in Oregon

When the major holidays roll around, especially those religious holidays like Easter and Christmas, finding peace while not near our family is a little hard. We miss that part of home that involves grandchildren and children.

Easter in Arizona

What we have discovered is that we can celebrate with friends and share their family traditions and stories with them. It eases that home-sickness that seems to seep into those special days. In a way we are like children again leaving home for the first time and making new traditions of our own.

So this Sunday on that special day 4 of our closest friends will come to our house for brunch. We will share not only food and prayer but also family news. After all of these years the magic is working...Arizona is beginning to feel like "home" during the holidays.

Have a wonderful Easter weekend.

b+

Five Little Ducks...stories played out!

The children's song about the little ducks leaving the nest to fly away has always been one of my favorites. Every mother has seen their babies fly away and rejoiced. Life comes full circle. Animals live that same cycle. Babies grow up. Birds leave the nest. Life goes on. So when the three ducks show up every year near my patio I am not surprised. But I am puzzled that it always seems to be the same three. Something just doesn't seem right. It appears the one did not fly away at all. Five little ducks Went out to play Over the hills and far away. The mommy duck went "quack, quack quack," Four little ducks came swimming back... And then Three Two and One. A drake, a female duck (a hen) and a not quite a drake but still not a hen gather here on the 5th green of the golf course. She leads and the other two follow along obediently. They eat, sleep, and guard each other. Each and every day this time of year they come. I have not named them. Jinxing them would be very pos...

How to be a 12 Month Snow Bird

Vacation Rental in Mexico I live around snowbirds 6 months of the year. I have heard those people say that they all want to live the "snowbird" lifestyle when they go home. But it just is not possible. They are isolated and cold. Social activities with friends and beautiful weather are greatly missed when they return to the realities of their "real" life. One couple I visited with lately returned to Florida this morning where they own a home. The woman is a nurse and works in the summer. They are not going home until May this year. It is too cold in Michigan in the spring so they are hoping to extend their good weather season by simply staying away. Besides that they love their Florida lifestyle a lot. Last week I visited with a woman that lives the snowbird lifestyle year around. No going home to the Midwest in the spring. They essentially vacation 12 month out of the year. And I thought their solution for avoiding unpleasant weather and keeping their lifestyle in...

If You Build It, They Will Come...Maybe!

It all began with a antique window in front of a local shop. It had been painted yellow, the glass was loose and all of the hinges and latches were gone. My old friend Betty would have approved...she would tell me it was just broken enough and damaged enough for me to drag it home. When my dear husband saw it, he wondered what he was meant to do with it. Imagine his surprise when he was presented with the plan to build a small neighborhood library exchange. It wasn't the first time he had heard me ask "How hard could it be?" Now it is six weeks later and we mounted the darling little library exchange on two posts in our front yard. I love it. Now the question is, will they come or has the time passed when people actually read something made of paper? Our association president stopped by and admired the box but left after telling me that he only read books on his Kindle. We will see. Would you bring a book and take a book? b+

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