Home Every Summer
Even big people want to go home every now and the then. Homesickness is not confined to little kids. Separation from one's roots may come at a cost. That price could be exacted in the form of unrequited longing, or as merely as a wish to visit loved ones and old familiar haunts.
These feelings are most intense for most of us two times during the year, at the holiday season and during "summer vacation." Thus, there are multiple motivations to "go home," wherever that is in our own heads. First, we usually want some time off from work, a vacation, and we want to "go home." The other thing is a need for variety. Summer comes and we want "something different."
And we want to spend time with those to whom we are attached. For me this means traveling from Texas to Wyoming to visit my family of origin every summer. Even though we are both retired, summer is when we take our vacation for that trip. That is because of habit, because of summer holidays, and because of weather. My teachers asked me as a child, "what did you do on your summer vacation?" Expectations of doing something during the summer begin early. The "something" might be tied to my birthday, Mother's Day or Memorial Day in May, or to Independence Day, the Fourth of July. Texas has a brief spring, and a long hot summer. Wyoming has a later spring, a short summer and a long, cold winter. Cold winters do not make for easy, safe traveling. So summer is the time to contemplate the trip North.
Predicting the end of the possibility of snow is difficult in mountain country. Wyoming has seen snow on the Fourth of July. The best we can do will be an educated guess. But we know for sure that being with my elderly mother would make a very special Mothers Day. My own birthday is not so important. And our adult children have gotten used to having m out of town on Mothers Day. And being in Wyoming for the 4th of July would also be very special. That is a big celebration in the town we visit, with a big parade, fireworks and a grand rodeo.
Both ideas are tempting. I will let you know, folks, what we decide.
My topical post today at South by Southwest and The Reaction is about the elections.
Technorati tags: diary travel thoughts family
These feelings are most intense for most of us two times during the year, at the holiday season and during "summer vacation." Thus, there are multiple motivations to "go home," wherever that is in our own heads. First, we usually want some time off from work, a vacation, and we want to "go home." The other thing is a need for variety. Summer comes and we want "something different."
And we want to spend time with those to whom we are attached. For me this means traveling from Texas to Wyoming to visit my family of origin every summer. Even though we are both retired, summer is when we take our vacation for that trip. That is because of habit, because of summer holidays, and because of weather. My teachers asked me as a child, "what did you do on your summer vacation?" Expectations of doing something during the summer begin early. The "something" might be tied to my birthday, Mother's Day or Memorial Day in May, or to Independence Day, the Fourth of July. Texas has a brief spring, and a long hot summer. Wyoming has a later spring, a short summer and a long, cold winter. Cold winters do not make for easy, safe traveling. So summer is the time to contemplate the trip North.
Predicting the end of the possibility of snow is difficult in mountain country. Wyoming has seen snow on the Fourth of July. The best we can do will be an educated guess. But we know for sure that being with my elderly mother would make a very special Mothers Day. My own birthday is not so important. And our adult children have gotten used to having m out of town on Mothers Day. And being in Wyoming for the 4th of July would also be very special. That is a big celebration in the town we visit, with a big parade, fireworks and a grand rodeo.
Both ideas are tempting. I will let you know, folks, what we decide.
My topical post today at South by Southwest and The Reaction is about the elections.
Technorati tags: diary travel thoughts family
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