Living away from home and friends is just a part of life for the present. MLP's job takes us on exciting adventures to new destinations. New friends are made. New experiences enjoyed. When I return home for a short visit, my heart skips a little beat.
Old friends are special. They hold common history, secrets, private jokes. They know you. They just know.
When my grandparents first retired (when I was a mere youngster), they moved to the beach, a new house, a new town, to where they thought they would be happy … but soon they realised it was their friends they needed most, not the beach … and so ... they moved back. The beach was accessible, always had been, but it was having friends close by that was more important. Friends with whom life was easy, comfortable, close. Friends who they knew well, who knew them. Special friends.
These are the friends I have at home. Some live almost next door. Some live across the lake. Some live in nearby suburbs or towns within driving distance.
I'm lucky.
Home for me, the home I will return to one day, nestles on the edge of a lake
with views like these.
And circles left on the top of the water from jumping fish.
The lake is enclosed just for kayaking, canoeing and stand up paddle boarding. Not for swimming, because then, I think, there would be safety issues and fence issues and health issues and possible litigation issues … but if you happen to fall out of your kayak, well, then you have to swim, don't you? And if, like me, you become disorientated and swim in the wrong direction … away from your kayak … well, what can you do but swim … and swim a little more?
It is a piece of paradise.
See that strip of metal on the fence around the lake? That's to stop the koalas climbing the fence. Not your average neighbourhood issue.
Goannas drink from the lake. Black swans and ducks circumnavigate the lake in search of bread and other tidbits dropping from overhanging hands of overhanging deck owners. Kangaroos bring their joeys to the fence to feed on the fresh grass.
And behind the fence is this.
It is a piece of paradise.
I'm lucky.
And a stone's throw away is this.
Paradise.
And friends with friends like this one who
luurrvvvees to run on the beach.
And friends with friends like these who …
found the beginnings of my crocheted granny square and had the most amazing fun.
But that's what friends are for.
Special friends.
Home.
Where the heart is.
It is a piece of paradise.
I'm lucky.
Where does your heart reside?
Where is your piece of paradise?
Your home?
Your special friends?
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