home

Yesterday we flew home to Oregon! It's so good to be home, to see the people we know and who know us, to be back in our familiar climate (it's poured most of the time since we returned), and to see the deep green of the evergreens as we flew in to Portland. I suppose the joy of being home is one common to most people with decent childhoods, but I can't imagine feeling so happy to be home if I'd grown up in New Jersey...nothing against NJ residents, of course... =)

Isn't it weird that we get so attached to a place? Partially it's the memories and emotions of the places where I feel most at home that make it "home" to me, but partially it's just that place. Is it the sense of being familiar with my surroundings? Is it the combination of colors and smells that I've grown most accustomed to and associate with family and friends? Is it the relationships? I don't know what it is, but there seems to be an almost mystical connection with "home" for myself and a lot of people. There's nothing else like it.

I was actually sad to leave New Jersey, though. Like I wrote a couple weeks ago, we've made some great friends this year, and I was sad to leave, knowing that some of them won't be there when we get back because they've graduated, and that we won't get to have the summer to relax and just spend time with people when none of us have homework. It would be nice to just stay there and not have to move and just be able to spend time with friends all summer.

But I'm so excited to be home that Jersey can't really compare. I'm excited to visit the Oregon coast, to go hiking in the Columbia Gorge, to rock climb at Smith Rock, to go to my own Yearly Meeting sessions, to help out at the high school camp, and go to friends' weddings. I'm excited to see my family and old friends, to hang out in our old favorite places, to enjoy the rhythm of the Oregon summer.

And I'm excited for new experiences, like starting my internship and trying my hand at pastoral ministry for the summer.

It's good to be home.