Thursday, January 8, 2009

Bye, Bye, 'Bama



The time has come for me to pack and prepare to leave this lovely scene behind. Tomorrow I will be back on the road again toward snow, ice, and cold temperatures. It has been a very relaxing and enjoyable time away from the normal routine and work tasks. Now, back to familiar. I do long to be back to familiar. This isn't home. It was a vacation. I have a longing to get back to what I'm familiar with....own bed, own space, own surroundings like rooms and furniture as well as stores, streets, and buildings.

It has to be good to get away and see new sights, though. It is refreshing to see new things and people. Yes, the people. I am definitely a people watcher, but one thing I discovered on this trip is that I am intrigued with people who live elsewhere. Do they like similar things as I? When I read local menus I can see they may offer some regional favorites that are foreign to me. Grits...I tried them at breakfast one morning. To me they were like Malt-O-Meal....a kind of oatmeal type dish. But I supposed people grow up with these regional favorites and it's like home and family. They have a certain meaning and comfort, I suppose.

I also learned about my own family. Where I come from. I had the pleasure of sharing this trip not only with my mother, but with two of her sisters. I haven't seen them very often for the past 30 years. This trip was a rare opportunity to spend time with them and see their unique personalities and understand that my own mother shares a life and history with them.

And I learned about myself. Will I be like them when I get older? What will I do for a vacation when I am retired? Is my body destined to look like their's? Can I fight it, or do genes have too much control?

Have any of you entertained any of these thoughts? What have you learned on your vacations or with your extended family? I would love to hear it.

2 comments:

Teri said...

I came over from your Skywatch page because I saw Wisconsin. We are snowbirds to Tucson and spend the summers in Wisconsin. Packer fans of course.

Nice to meet you.

GoWildMarie said...

Hi Teri. So nice of you to stop by. I don't really know what Skywatch is, but I'm glad you found me.

Tucson sounds wonderful. This winter is a good one to be someplace warmer than Wisconsin. Brrrrr.

I'm curious about Arizona and the possibility of becoming snowbirds there with my husband in our retirement years. I'd love to hear your thoughts about it. I'll try and e-mail you privately and see if we can chat about it.