We got home Friday night, around 7:00. The first thing I did was rush into the house and inhale.
Ahhhh. It smells like us, like my family. A unique blend of sunshine, sweaty heads, Hope Suds laundry detergent and ripening peaches. The air was warm and heavy and familiar.
I smiled.
We had been gone so long – two weeks – that it felt a little like waking up from a dream. “Oh yes, that’s what my cookie jar looks like. Did we always have blinds on that window? I can’t believe there is really that much room between the kitchen table and the stairs.”
Even the kids felt it. "I got so used to Colorado, Mom, that I'm not used to being here anymore," said Connor over Chipotle.
But it didn’t take long for our souls to sink back in.
My acclimation was pushed by the appalling discovery that my bed had been unmade the entire time we were gone. I was beside myself. I make my bed every day, without fail. It’s part of my faux OCD nature. I couldn’t believe my bed had been sitting wrinkled and unkempt for 15 days.
So I promptly made my bed.
Then I pulled down the covers and sank into my own pillow.
Ahhhhh.
Home.
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I can so relate to the unmade bed while on vacation! My hubby doesn't understand my "obsession" to have the house clean and spotless before we head out on vacation. ha!
ReplyDeleteI'm not normally obsessive about cleanliness (like, at all) but I do SO LOVE coming home from vacation and crawling into a made bed.
ReplyDeleteOur old house refuses to smell like us unless we are here. Every time we come back from being away, I am sure my house has invited over a few cats and an old musty attic.
ReplyDeleteI loved "my faux OCD nature." Can I claim that for myself? There are very few things that I make myself do everyday--my bed is one of them. :) I need one circle of calm in the sea of chaos.
ReplyDeleteI love how your expressed the way that space shifts in our my minds when we are away and how coming home is one part familiar and one part discovery. So true.
Welcome home!
Kelly, I love this post. I love YOU!
ReplyDeleteI love coming home too (Although like another commenter said, our house never smells like us. It always smells like cats peed everywhere. We've never owned any cats. Nothing says "welcome home" like feeling like you're just a dropping in giant litter box.) I am always so anxious to unpack everything and do all of the laundry the second we walk in the door. I love getting life and home back in order.