As I sit cozily in the sunroom watching the wind strip the trees of their leaves, I feel grateful for this warm space, being snuggled in a cozy chair, preparing to finish packing up Vanda for our departure tomorrow morning. One of the many differences of being home versus being in the van is that when I wake up insanely early — this morning, it was 4 AM — I just can get up to begin my day. In Vanda however, if I wake up that early, there is “nowhere to go” except to the front seats, which we refer to as the living room. Oddly enough, I actually do sleep better in the van than I do at home…
We’ve been home for 5 weeks. A lot has been accomplished, and a lot of fun has been had, not necessarily together. Ya’ know, doctor and dentist appointments, the last yard clean up before winter, a deep clean in Vanda after our long fall travels, HVAC work, blahblahblah. The fun stuff however was utterly wonderful: two contemporary dance performances, one in Chicago and one in Columbus; Seth Meyers stand up comedy show in Columbus; many dinners out, some in the two “big cities” to which we had weekend getaways; the Chicago Marathon as spectators; visits with friends in daylight and in the evening; lots of bike rides and hikes around town; I finally got around to making the bead & crystal bead art thingee that I had been contemplating for a couple of years; plenty ‘o cooking in my home kitchen which is an utterly different experience than cooking in Vanda; and my contribution to our future government by hosting a Desserts for Democracy fundraiser for Mary Allen for US Congress. She is going to win this race!
Fall color is everywhere we look now, albeit somewhat muted. John went out often to make photos of this special time of year. We are headed south tomorrow morning to make our way to Fort Lauderdale to celebrate my mother’s 97th birthday with our family. [Of course, some of them may not be able to get there due to the unnecessary and painful government shutdown which has affected air travel but more importantly, there are children going to bed hungry tonight because of the cruelty being inflicted by the dufus in DC. Side note, if the recent special elections are a reflection of the changes to come in leadership, then Yay! Bring it on.]
We will be spending a week camping at Fort DeSoto, FL on the way to see my mom and a week at Jekyll Island, GA on the way back with lots of campgrounds coming and going that are either on the ocean or the Gulf of Mexico or near a bird sanctuary. There are snow flurries coming down now, in Indiana, so we are looking forward to warmer temps as we head south. Likely though, fall color will not be part of this upcoming journey.
Yes, there will be photos to share… xo
