Where is your TRUE home?

 First of all ... HAPPY NEW YEAR! May your new year be a healthy and prosperous 2022. 

The other day, I heard a longtime favorite artist singing on the radio, the late folk singer, John Denver. The song was "Country Roads", which is one of my favorites. As I was driving, I concentrated on the words about going home. I started to thinking about all the places I have lived in my life, and what do I call my real home. OK, from the beginning, I was born in Alabama, but never really lived there for a long period of time. Visits mostly, to my mother's family while I was very young. I have fond memories of that time, but I don't call it my real home. Then we moved to Cincinnati, and for about 18 years, I lived there. Again, good memories, but not my true home. While in the Air Force in the 60s and 70s, I lived in the Netherlands (Holland) and really enjoyed those years, and at one point considered living there, but finally ... no. Came back to Cincy for a few years and then moved to Arizona after traveling through, and thinking about several other states. That was in 1976, and we have not moved since. Maybe from one house to another, but always stayed in Arizona. Why? It's home. 

Home is defined in the dictionary as," A place where one lives in residence." I have had a lot of residences, but until I settled in Arizona, I really did not feel like it was MY HOME. We have traveled around the world to every continent (except Australia), and never found a place I loved more than Arizona. Everytime we get home from a trip, whether overseas or stateside, I ask Nancy, "Would want to live there?", and her answer is always the same,  "No, it did not feel like home."   We are always glad to get back to the desert. Yeah, it gets really hot here in the summer, and we don't have huge trees, or a lot of water, or a lot of grass, but we have adapted to the hazardness of the desert and made a good life here. It's hot in the summer, but the rest of the year makes up for that. If we want snow, we drive 2 hours north to the mountains. If we want ocean, we drive 5 hours west to the Pacific. And Mexico is only 3 hours to the south.

Now, don't get me wrong, I am not inviting you to move here, and it's not for everyone. We do have things that bite, sting, stick you, but so does any place you go. But a visit would be good. 

I think everyplace has its good points and downfalls.  Cost of living, politics, housing, job opportunities, etc. But if you feel comfortable and surrounded by family and good friends, love your house ... then you are home. I'll admit, where else can you wear T-shirts and shorts all year long? Maybe Florida, but they don't have dirt, just sand. I guess the bottom line is wherever you lay your head, is home. I hope you have found yours. Let me know where your 'home' is. Please comment.

Take care, stay safe and Good bless you all.