There's No Place Like Home

I frequently forget how much I love to be home, at least for short periods of time. I forget how much I love rolling down the streets I know so well with the windows down and the music up. I forget how much I love looking at the birds flitting around my backyard, or the beautiful gardens that I used to help maintain. I forget how much I love just being able to relax and not think about the next deadline or thing that I have to do.

Don't get me wrong, I love the busy life...I suppose that's why I keep it that way. But I've been thinking a lot (more) about the "simpler" life...perhaps what my life outside of college will be like. I really enjoyed (and I am NOT a morning person) waking up for Mass today and going to breakfast with a friend from high school. We chatted about simple things for about 3 hours in some little cafe in Edwardsville. It was really nice.

I came home, took a nap, and didn't take life to seriously. That's nice for a change. After dinner, mom and I took a walk around the neighborhood (while praying the Rosary). Again, something I never find time to do, but absolutely loved. I came home, dusted off a bike for nostalgia's sake, and took a spin around the block a couple of times. I can't even tell you how long it's been since I've ever even thought about getting on a bike...but it reminded me of simpler times, when the wind whipping through my hair as I sped down the hills in my neighborhood was about all I could do to get myself out of the house.

I also spent a little time walking around the backyard, looking at the tons of plants that my parents have spent much time laboring to nurture. As I was pruning some hips off a rose bush, I thought about how weird it was that there weren't a ton of bees flying around me yet (it's too early in the season, I suppose). I used to hate bees...they were just a nuisance more than anything. Things like that mark the maturity of a gardener, I'd say: the point when you realize that bees are an essential part of the process, and as such, you're just gonna have to share the rose bush with them. I think there's a spiritual maturity parallel there somewhere, but I'm too tired to dig it out right now.

Lastly, I ask you to pray for the repose of the soul of Bill Fite, the father of my uncle, who died today. He was an excellent man and lived a very long life (I think he was 96). May he rest in peace!