Home for the Holidays

Having traveled for several weeks, I have a new appreciation of home, bed, kitchen and warmth.  We bought a motor home and took it on a trip to the gulf coast where it was raining and cold.  Motor homes are not very well insulated and so every time the door was opened, a blast of Arctic air entered and about the time, it felt as though we were about to get warm, the wind would start up and you could feel a draft of cold air blowing through the vehicle. 

Having three dogs, plus cages, and two adults in a 30-foot motor vehicle fills up quickly.  Just to make more room, I stacked the cages into the shower when we were not in motion.  But then, I was snuggled under an afghan with one or two dogs snuggled with me.  Nice way to vacation when cold.  Plus, a good book helps with a insulated mug of tea.

Everything is done in miniature in a motor home.  The kitchen galley is small so there is not much space for prepping anything.  Fortunately. I equipped us with enough frozen food so that the most we had to do was microwave, or toast bread for sandwiches.  Easy.

It is my firm belief that one of life’s greatest gift is the pleasure of warm, running water during the winter months, or the cool, refreshing water on a hot summer’s day.  I remember traveling through Mexico on early spring day, we came along a winding river and saw women washing clothes on the rocks, bathing children and generally basking in the warm sun while sitting on the river bottom.  I wanted to be in the water with them until I realized that they didn’t have running water at home.  They were there to do laundry, to get clean and to have a moment of socializing before other chores intervened. 

I complain that I have to vacuum the floors when on that same trip, we saw a woman sweeping out the dirt on her hard compacted dirt in her one room house with no door or glass in the windows.  Most of the houses had none of the amenities that I was use to.  The women had to go to the shops every day to get what they needed because they didn’t have refrigeration or stoves for cooking – only the small braziers sitting in front of their houses.

This is a time to appreciate all I have.  I have a washing machine and dryer so that I have time to write, to read, to, yes, clean my house, surrounded with warmth, even though it is 31 degrees outside.  I am so grateful to be surrounded in affluence, luxury and space.  Plenty of space so that all of us have room to move, stretch and relax.  Home for the holidays is the best ever.