Home, Contentedly

In traveling I often doubt my choice to stay in Santa Barbara with so many wonderful less expensive places in the world, closer to family and friends, such as my sister’s wonderful place in North Carolina.

But I needed only to board the plane to Santa Barbara to know that Santa Barbara is home.

It is not only the place, which is stunning, but the people. I boarded the plane with an exuberant band of strangers, all good humored about trading their last twenty-four hours of delightful vacation and dreadful air travel mishaps.

But just the noise of all the commingled voices said one thing, a mass of happy, laid-back, go-with-the-flow people.

As I sit here on the plan, I wonder and question whether I am projecting my happiness at going home on this random bunch of people.

But my neighbor, the passenger aside me just interrupted my ponderances with some friendly conversation about the people on the flight.

I have been on a lot of flights in the last week and a half.

Nice to Heathrow
Heathrow to Boston
Boston to Charlotte
Charlotte to Greenville (NC)
Greenville to Charlotte
Charlotte to Las Vegas

And at the moment, Las Vegas to Santa Barbara (for me twelve hours late).

Six flights, and the tone and feel of this flight is different. Not because I am going home, but because a little bit of home greeted me here.

I had more thoughts, but I spend the rest of the flight chatting with the lovely woman beside me.

Having been here a day now, I remember it is not just the 78 F (24 C) weather in November but the real Aloha feel of the people in Santa Barbara that I love. I have talked to my neighbors, my pharmacist and even the woman at the 7-11. They all know me and welcomed me home, after five months away. I have played with other people’s dogs running free and happy at the beach. I took a five mile walk along a stretch of beach where, in the entire five miles, I only saw six people. I have sat at a green light, quietly, patiently along with others, while the person ahead of us played with their radio unaware of the light change. I went to visit someone and walked through their wide open front door only to find they were not home and would not be for six hours.

"Mmmm," contentedly, "Home."

Off to enjoy the sun…

Here is a picture from yesterday: