There's No Place Like Home

I don't think I need to click my red glittery heels together, because I'm already there. Sigh. Yes, that's Bella in the middle of all my muck. Toto? Nope, she's not as loyal as ol' Toto.

She's keeping her distance, still, as we speak. Brat. She's given me a couple of forced kisses. Only because I demanded them.

I left my Hampton Inn this morning and made my way over to the teenager's place. Do I have to tell you I was draggin'? Probably not. But I will anyway. I was really draggin'.

He suggested one of his haunts, the Sunspot. I think it was a tad early for him also. Like mother, like son.

The chips and salsa verde weren't really all that appetizing. I was more up for a breakfast menu, but the teenager isn't much of a breakfast-kinda-person. Oh well.

I enjoyed the wonderful photos on the wall.

And, I suppose, we were seated at the Haiku table. That was a lot of fun, but it was too early for my brain to be in gear. Duh. I think I could have come up with something. Daig. I was, however, able to follow these instructions. Quite easily, thank you very much. And he was too. Aw. I love yous are always good. Any time of day.

These all brought a smile to my face.

And this one is for Aim.

We were barely able to choke but a couple of bites down. I think I've been ill, in one form or another, since I left home over a week ago. Lordy me. Details on that later. Joy. Betchya can't wait for that! But this morning, I woke up with the teenager's sore throat and a raspy voice like Doris Day. He had left Maryland with it last Sunday. I have been in search of my Airborne medicinal stuff since last night once I felt it coming on. I just now chugged down a shot of the stuff. Let's hope that does the trick. Anyhow, he was off to class and I was on the road again.

I took the liberty of making some pit stops. Whatever caught my eye, I was exiting off the highway in search of whatever. Smelling the roses, so to speak.

My first surprise was this lake I stumbled upon in Kingston (I think). I was actually looking for an antique shop that advertised on a billboard that I never found. This was a much better find, for sure.

Absolutely beautiful.

As I was pulling away, I saw all of these geese and ducks. Of course, I had to pull over, find my muffin the hotel had given me for the road trip, and share with these cuties. They enjoyed it more than I ever would have.

My next stop was a cute little town, Harriman. It took all I had to find that information after the fact, let me tell you. lol I was actually looking for Rugby, which is an old Victorian city. Yep, in Tennessee. We went there when we first moved to TN with the boys, and I wanted to revisit it.

I never found it. I enjoyed Harriman tho. And a lady I met in a shop.

Funny how your wings take you places and you meet the most wonderful people and hear stories about their lives. I've always been fascinated with that. Even as a young child and we would take these road trips south to visit our relatives in Georgia and Texas, the people we would meet. So different yet so similar. Such wonderful memories of my childhood.

Today was one of those such meetings. I went into a little shop, the only one in town mind you. I walked around and gathered little goodies for stocking stuffers at Christmas and began a little pile on the counter by the register. There were not baskets around, so I just started a pile. There were two other ladies who had entered after me and they were more into the "social southern" way of shopping than I will ever be--that being talking to the shop owner as if they had known her since childhood. So, I continued to look around until it seemed they were almost all checked out. I approached the register and noticed that the owner was writing down the little tin toy I had picked up and had stacked on the corner of the countertop. Eeeeek. I gently spoke up and said "I'm sorry, but I was going to purchase that." Oy, I got a glare from the "purchaser" that would have curled your toes! It kind of startled me. I, personally, would have been embarrassed and said "OH, I am sorry, is THAT your stack of stuff???" Well she didn't. The shop keeper was sweet and offered to look for another one--sigh, another sign of Southern hospitality which takes sooooooooo LONG. lol. But she was sweet. While she was looking, I looked at the lady (dressed in her nurses' whie) and tried to break the ice. I said "I have carpal tunnel and can't hold things in my hands too long without them going to sleep and there were no baskets." Again, the glare. Well, I tell you what, I was through with that. Perhaps I'm not a true Southerner. and take offense to that sort of behavior. More like it, she isn't. For sure. Well hush my puppies. Shame on her. I am going into way too much detail here on the nasty woman. The real story was with the shop keeper. After the nasty woman left, we got to talking. I told her that there was no reason for that woman to be so rude. We just began talking like we do down here in the south. I had purchased some sweet plaques with wonderful mother sayings and I told her how I had just lost mom. She said she had just lost her father a couple of weeks before. But then she said she had lost her son about a month ago. OMG. I could hardly keep from welling up. How hard it must be to lose a child. He was a police officer, younger than me, was not supposed to be on duty that night and had been called in. He was killed in an automobile accident. Devastating. She told me to look at his photo, which she hung on the front door, on my way out. We all must remember, there is always someone out there who is hurting more than us.

Anyhoo, sniffle, the rest of my way home was quick and pretty easy. I think I ate my way home. I won't even put in writing what all I ate. I suppose I thought it was my last hurrah. And then tonight, the hub, kid and I enjoyed a delightful dinner together. I feel like the blueberry girl in Willie Wonka. I am about to burst.

As much as I miss all of my family and friends up north, it sure is good to be home. I cannot wait to crawl into bed with the hub so we can serenade each other to sleep with our snoring. Aw. Bliss.

xo ro