Saturday, May 21, 2011

Home Is Where You Hang Your Hat

I feel like we have been searching for "home" for a long time now. We grew out of our house in KS. I miss a LOT of things about our first home, but we needed more space. That house *always* felt like home.

In NV, in our nicer, newer, bigger, better house, it has been my dream home. The kind of house I always wanted to spend my retirement enjoying. It's always felt a bit... maybe temporary is the word for which I am searching. I've loved it, and for me it has felt more like home than I believe it has for Todd. Maybe it's because we aren't crazy about our area. Hell let's face it, we hate our HOA, endure the lot of complete weeds up the hill because the homeowner is psycho, miserably tolerate some of the barking dogs in the area on a daily basis, and I have waged full out war on one dog owner family because they are completely irresponsible furry-lawn-ornament owners in denial about their issue. Hey, they started the war as soon as they left their little terror outside to bark it's head off all weekend and I could hear the little shit when I was INSIDE my own house, with ALL windows and doors shut, even when I was in the most remote corner of my house. Ahhh, but I digress. That shall be a blog for another day. Oh, and we hate our HOA because it's a bunch of old people trying to turn the neighborhood into a literal retirement community, complete with a neighborhood Christmas party, summer picnic, 2+ week European cruise, bunco nights, poker nights, scrapbooking club, bla, bla, bla. All that and my quarterly funds go towards the "courtesy violation" letters they so graciously send for a mouse farting on my front lawn. They can seriously bite me. I guess you know a few of my hot buttons now.

Anyway, our house hasn't felt like home for me in probably a year. That may have something to do with the fact that I lost my job almost a year ago and my life turned upside down and inside out. You think?

As long as I am with my hubby and have my pups, that provides for me a feeling of contentment. A sense of home. Maybe that's why I LOVE camping so much. It's like setting up a temporary little home out in the middle of solitude. Which is really where we should be. I think we are still searching for our spot called home.

ADDENDUM: Upon reflection, I have to admit that we may not know exactly what house is home, but I am damn sure I know where home is.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

I love this topic, find it fascinating.

I think home is where you make it. I think you are as happy or miserable in an area as you want to be. We've moved a lot (it seems) and tend to be around other transient families. The number of people who refuse to enjoy/embrace an area because they simply do not want to (or because it isn't where they came from) astounds me. Life is too short to be miserable, not to mention it takes so much energy. Plus, you knew you were moving, you chose to move, so either accept it and be happy or move back.

It's like when I live in Nebraska and see a NE license plate with "TX NATIVE" on it. I don't get it. If Texas is so great, go back there.

For me home isn't a place as much as a feeling. Like you said, as long as I have my family and we're safe and warm and healthy, my home is complete.