Following up on the Lion’s post, Where the Heart Is …

For a long while now, my backpack, duffle bag or roller bag felt more like home than the apartment where I paid rent.  New trails, new coffee shops, new friends, seeing old friends in new places, trying new foods and wine – that made me feel comfortable, safe and happy.  I literally didn’t say no to anything if I wasn’t working or exhausted from working.  That didn’t even change when I adopted my dog.  But the reason it didn’t change, is that I took him (the dog) with me most places I went.  Turns out, Chase really likes the car:

Chase is quite fond of Fire Island:

And Chase just LOVES Maine:

But recently, it all changed.  I noticed it the night I said no to drinks at a fun new place in one of those “up and coming” Philly neighborhoods.  I turned it down for that safe, happy, wonderful feeling I used to get only on the road, but that night, it was in my apartment, alone, Chase cuddled next to me, chewing his bone happily and contentedly, consumed by the idea of “the cocoon of us,” which is how the lion described what I couldn’t – what it feels like to be together.  

Ask anyone who knows me, and they will tell you I’ve been talking about moving to California since the milleneum.  Not that I dislike Philly, but living in Philly was a consession I made (happily), but a compromise nonetheless. These days, even in the midst of the polar vortex, I’m so happy to be able to call Philly home, for a little while longer anyway… I still travel, and even now, I’m on the road for work, but I’m missing home, that apartment where I pay rent, missing it, for the first time in quite a while.  Now when I travel, I see a new dog, and instead of wanting to put him in my backpack and bring him home,

Blackie (with those awesome puppy dog eyes) makes me want to go home, to my guys at home.

Anyway, I love traveling, I love what I do, but I’m ready to come home to the guys, my home.  And in a couple of months, I’ll road trip coast to coast with the guys…never really leaving home to do it. Ever listen to the lyrics of Billy Joel’s You’re My Home? Punchline: “Wherever we’re together, that’s my home.”