Coming Home

We're home again. Or at least, halfway home. We just spent two months in our OTHER home in San Diego, and have returned to the dregs of winter here in Virginia. If you can believe it, in the rush of our post-Christmas departure, I managed to leave our wreath on the door and a few bright red Christmas decorations in the pots on the porch. There are a few Christmas presents still in the living room that I have to find places for, and the little potted Norfolk Island pines I bought for the mantel are (oddly) still fresh-looking and green. Go figure.

I, on the other hand, am constantly in need of refreshing. Two months may have been two years as far as my brain is concerned. I turn the wrong way to get to the microwave. I've forgotten where I keep the towels. I even had to stop and think about which mug I use for my tea. I am, in a word, discombobulated.

Adding to the overall confusion is the readjustment to east coast time, traffic, and weather. And to the importunate Jake, who seems to be on some sort of schedule set by a master of psychological torture: he wakes and yowls around 3:45 am, and again at irregular times after that, punctuating his singing with treks across the bed and pillows, the nightstand, and all bodies in between. During one of those forays, I remembered (after Jake's leap from the nightstand to the floor, followed by ominous silence) that Jake can pick up my glasses and/or wristwatch in his teeth and make off with one or the other. He had.

Amidst all this, we discovered that our USPS mail forwarding request (scheduled to stop two weeks ago) had continued, and that last week's Virginia mail had just arrived in San Diego. So our mail had an all expenses paid (by me) jaunt from VA to CA and back. In a compensatory move, however, the newspaper delivery, supposed to resume today, did not. Why do I even bother?

Today's journeys encompass: the grocery store (after some reconnoitering in the pantry, refrigerator, and freezer), the UPS store to pick up stuff we shipped back, perhaps the doctor's office for some bloodwork that I had postponed, and maybe, just a spin around town to re-familiarize myself with the place. Maybe the nursery for some pansies or something to brighten the porch and patio. Some flowers for the table? I will have earned them.