After spending a weekend in downtown Pittsburgh, I believe there is a lot of truth to the phrase there’s no place like home. I enjoy traveling. Umm, correction, I want to enjoy traveling. However, the truth of the matter is, I genuinely enjoy being home. I get excited about trips. I have a bucket list of travels I hope to take someday. I even enjoy planning to travel. In reality, I just want to go back home once I am traveling.
Don’t get me wrong; I had a lovely time in Pittsburgh. It was refreshing to get away, not cook every meal, and meet new people. We stayed in a lovely hotel and ate at some interesting restaurants. I appreciated the architecture the cityscape offered. I met some truly delightful people, but when the sun rose on Sunday morning, I said to my bibbed wonder and my bean, “let’s get out of here!” We didn’t even shower; we just packed our things, brushed our teeth, and headed home.
Home is what is familiar and comfortable. As I walked along the Pittsburgh streets, I could appreciate why people choose to live in this urban setting. It is their home, their comfort. They gather at well-loved restaurants and bars, visit friendly, familiar stores, see faces that have become part of their daily routine. The city is always alight, moving, and bustling. There is an ebb and flow to the city’s energy, and I understand how people find that appealing.
It’s just not my comfort or familiarity. After two nights away from my farm, I missed the darkness of the rural night. I missed seeing the clear, brisk clarity of the night sky. I missed seeing the sunrise over the trees in the far-field. I missed my familiars. I missed my geese honking, the thumping of the pig feeder lid as the pigs eat their breakfast, the rooster crowing, and the birds singing in the trees. Those are my familiars. Believe it or not, I was even tired of eating out. I wanted my home.
My dad used to say, “it’s nice to go away, but it’s even better to come home.”I could not agree with him more.As always, dear reader, stay safe, be smart, appreciate home, and keep washing your hands.
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