"The mountains are calling and I must go." — John Muir

Back to the valley where a creek winds, bursts and buckles hillsides. To the house that I spent every day of my youth in, daydreaming, wishing, watching falling stars. The glorious meeting of the Catskills and the Adirondacks, the place where most of my family still calls home.

Where leaves have fallen helplessly to the ground, farmers have harvested, and now the eerie quiet of winter begins to cloak the night hours.

I will stand (once again), nose against a cold window pane and watch the sun set behind bare trees, until my own breath fogs up the glass completely. Then I'll shiver with the chill and ask for a blanket. Someone will probably laugh and blame my new Texan ways; how I need to get back to the country more often.

This year, in a few weeks, a plane brings us back to New York at my favorite time. When all will gather to celebrate, to say "thanks", and to enjoy the gifts of Grace.

We perhaps will sit and do nothing, drink our coffee slowly as the countryside settles into night. I may venture to the city that never sleeps, the place on which I fixed my teenage dreamer heart. We will let the kids run until they're tired and rosy-cheeked. We will most likely feel exasperated at their endless energy and once again send them outdoors to get the fresh November air.

It won't be perfect. I know this. But we will live all the imperfections, somehow letting them be a part of the normal routine for a large family that gathers for a holiday.

I will see my sisters' faces and be thankful for them. I will hug my brothers and love their steady hearts, their firm foundations. My 17 nieces and nephews will all look older, and I will marvel at their wit, their beauty, their big hearts. I will push my little M into their fold and say things like, "Go! Play! Let me be for awhile."

snippets from my NY weheartit

There is nothing like staying at home for real comfort. ~Jane Austen


{p.s. i don't leave for a few more weeks, but i can't stop thinking about it. so you get a blog about it.}