Carolyn Koontz

Day 75 ~ 34,700 Miles. Home Again

It’s always wonderful to arrive home. Personally, I rarely think about my specific feelings when I walk through the door. But after a long, amazing albeit unexpectedly shortened journey, a demanding 30+ hour travel ‘day’, and the circumstances and challenges we all currently face, I took special note of my feelings and emotions.

Above all else I feel grateful. Grateful for arriving home safely. Grateful to Katie and Jay for the opportunity to travel with them. Grateful to Sheila and Tracy for their hard work and thoughtfulness in helping us get home. Grateful to my caring family, friends, and neighbors for watching over things while I was gone. Grateful to my sister, Terri and Stacy for stocking my house with groceries, prepared meals, and supplies and to Ellen for the roll of “emergency TP”. Grateful to those that prayed for our safe travels and safe journey home. Grateful for all of the emails, texts, likes and comments, and calls from home. Grateful for new friends met along the way. Grateful for the double rainbow that appeared in the sky through the clouds as I was approaching my home. Grateful for the warmth, security, and comfort I felt as I unlocked my front door and walked in with a deep breath and heavy sigh.

A note regarding the travel home: I half expected a traveling nightmare based on the reporting of long lines at airports around the country, the rush of citizens trying to get back into the country before our borders closed, and because of the hysteria and restrictions that have settled over the country. What I experienced was nothing like that. There were no long lines, there were no angry and anxious travelers pushing their way through, and unfortunately, there were no health screenings when entering the U.S. at LAX.

A self-imposed, 14-day quarantine is in my immediate future but I did manage to share an over the fence limoncello welcome home toast with my nextdoor neighbors today, PPE included.

I’d like to share a few images from Perth and beyond as part of my final post.

This wasn’t the journey planned and dreamed of but it is one I will never forget.

“A journey, after all, neither begins in the instant we set out, nor ends when we have reached our door step once again. It starts much earlier and is really never over, because the film of memory continues running on the inside of us long after we have come to a physical standstill.”
— Ryszard KapuścińskiЧитать далее