I’m a California girl. Born and raised in what’s now a cozy wine country town. Where vineyards line the hillsides and world-class wineries dot the map.
Back in the day the wineries weren’t nearly as prevalent as the horses and cattle. I was born in the wrong decade, apparently.
Marrying into the military proved to be a one-way ticket out though. And–at the time–I looked at a cross-country move with wide-eyed wonder, imagining all the seeing and the doing.
All that only to find out that it’s true what they say: there really is no place like home.
Yet here I am. At home all over again. A new home. One that doesn’t come close to rivaling the real thing. But home it is, nevertheless.
There are thoughts tumbling in our heads. Opportunities swirling. Lots of maybes.
And so I’m looking at this home through different eyes. Slightly more romantic eyes. Nostalgic ones.
Driving does it to me every time. This desert terrain makes my heart yearn, in spite of the fact that we haven’t gone anywhere just yet.
I’d miss the topography: the charcoal mountain outline backed by a bleeding sunset.
I’d miss the cuisine. The fresh, far-from-greasy Sonoran tacos and enchiladas and fajitas.
I’d miss the monsoon. Especially sitting on the porch mid-July and watching as the midnight clouds in the distance give way to sheets of summer rain.
I’d miss the night sky. How it stretches on and on, interrupted only by the city, blanketed with lights.
I’d miss prickly pear margaritas. {Some of the} curious creatures that find their way into our backyard. And the friends we’ve made.
I’d miss the home we built, with all of its just-the-way-I-like-it charm.
I’d miss the Catalina mountains. The midnight howls of coyote. Pink, yellow, and magenta blooms of the cacti in spring.
I’d miss the Ocotillo. Desert jackrabbits that scurry about each morning. The promise of an early fall.
All of this I’d miss because even though it’s not really home? It sort of is.
How about you? What would you miss?
{ 18 comments… read them below or add one }
I’d like to see all of those things in your current location. I’m not sure that I’d appreciate them as you do.
Does this line of thinking mean that you are another step closer to a development?
beautiful
Home is where your heart and family are, you can make a home anywhere if the ingredients are right…it never hurts to have memories of the “homes we have left behind”
We moved 6 hours away from where we both grew up, about 6 years ago. At the time I was all for it. I didn’t have that close of relationship with my parents or extended family and really didn’t think twice about it. Now of course I realize how much I did have with them and miss them the most. On the other hand moving here has brought us things I would never have dreamed about, friends, and things to do, less people……I can’t imagine being anywhere else.
I come from a very small Texas cowtown and couldn’t wait to get out after high school. However, each time I visit (like this week for Spring Break) I realize how much I miss the quiet, slow pace of this place. The sunsets across the plains are just breathtaking. I can actually see the starts at night. And I know that we will see friendly familiar faces wherever we go. So, I totally know what you mean.
But does this mean there is a move on the horizon for you?
Off the top of my head, I’d miss the community the most. Even though our population is now over 100,000, I still feel like we live in a sort of small town. We have been so blessed by our church community and to leave that would be very hard. But also the community at large. We support the local college teams and we eat at local restaurants a lot and I just love where I live. So I guess I would miss it all.
Great post! I’m not a dessert girl. Far from it. I’m a Midwestern girl. I hate the cold. But I’d desperately miss the snow. I love the heat. But I’m glad there’s only a few days of it in a year. Our seasons are so short and so distinct. I know I’d miss the rich colors of fall or the exciting sightings of new green each spring. Everything we ever really desired has always been in our very own backyard, right? Different for everyone.
I can’t say I’d miss much. We are definitely tossing around the idea of moving. I would definitely miss all the hot air balloons in the sky from Sept – Dec and Mar-May…and a few close friends. That’s about it. You are lucky that you love where you are.
Don’t worry madre – you won’t have to miss the monsoons;]
Even though I have come to dislike winters, and think I want to move to a warm climate, I really think I would miss waking up on Christmas morning with out snow.
This is sounding serious. Move east and we might actually be within driving distance again one day!
Hmmm…I would miss my friend and the mild summers.
I’d really miss Old Man River (the Mississippi). At this point in its journey, it just exudes what it means to be Southern…strong, but gracious and tempered. I think that there are far more beautiful places in this country, but the mighty Mississippi is a sight to behold.
I did live in Tucson for five years and it was there, while driving in the foothills of the Catalina mountains, that I realized how much I loved the desert. I spent those five years cursing Tucson, but once I left it was the only place I wanted to be. That experience has really taught me to look for the beauty in every place that I live. It’s always there.
After a 1000 mile move this year, I can tell you that I miss my house that we built with inground pool and gazebo a lot. What I miss most is our friends. The ones that I could call up any time of the day or night to watch Nicolas, share a glass of wine, take a long walk, help me with a crisis or rejoice with a new development. However new opportunities are so exciting and home can be anywhere. We also have another possible move in the horizon. I’ll email you sometime with details. I have no doubt that your family would be make friends quickly any where that you settled. And no doubt that you’d magically create any house into a home!
And you’d miss me, of course. You forgot that. :)
And the smell of the rain in the desert. There’s nothing quite like it.
What are prickly pear margaritas? Can you mail me one?
Love this post. Love it here. In the desert I have been healed and in the desert my heart still aches with the beauty. From a formerly East coast girl (you cant see sky and mountains for all those pesky trees :)
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