There and Back again. We are finally home.

 We are home.  What a long strange trip it has been. Almost 5 months after our house burned, 3 temporary residents and we have finally found our way back home.

It isn't much, but it is ours.

Having lost everything, and then spending several months in a furnished house where nothing belonged to us, there is something to be said about having something to call your own.  We are slowly filling it with lovely things we have been gifted or collected. My new fruit bowl was hand carved  locally in Floyd.   A french press i found at the goodwill. An antique coffee grinder we purchase from a garage sale, and kitchen towels a gift from my grandmother.  The blue mug that now holds my kitchen utensils was a favorite of mine recovered from the fire. It is cracked and chipped, and missing it's handle but i am still happy to have it back.

i used to have a stained glass dragonfly in my kitchen window. i used to love to look out at the garden while washing dishes.  i am now on the opposite side of the yard. i have a beautiful moon wind chime hanging in the kitchen window (thank you Cathy!) and i can still look out at my garden while washing dishes. 

Of our three cats, Talulleh was the only one found.  She has spent the last 4 months living in Kenan's glass shop.  She too seemed very happy to be home.  

We officially moved in on June 1st. So we have been scrambling to make up for missed time.  4 months away from home, and the gardens and flower beds are completely out of control.  i'm still struggling to finish planting my garden, and even though many things are getting planted too late...i'm still happy just to be here planting them.

Now that we are here we have begun the stages of trying to rebuild. i spend an extra ordinary amount of time online searching house plans, and realty and alternative housing options. We still do not know what we are going to do.  We have a very limited amount of time to lock something in with the insurance company or we basically forfeit the money they would be contributing to the rebuild.  So although we are home, we can not even begin to relax yet.  Still so much to do and think about. 

The first week that we were in RV the kids told me 'this feels just like our old house. Like we have always lived here'.  i almost cried when they said it. i admit i was worried that pulling them away from the comfortable home that we were renting might be a mistake. The 'moving again' was so hard on all of us that i really questioned whether i was just being selfish in wanting to come back here. 

So many people have said 'Home is where the heart is. It is not a physical place it is something you carry with you.' Although i agree there is some truth to that, as long as our animals were not with us, our hearts could never totally feel at home.  We had a huge emptiness caused by the separation.  Returning home has given us a sense of peace that has been missing for months now.  We are back on our land, back in our garden, and back with our remaining animals. 

We are home.