Missing Home

As we spend some time away, it's a good time to reflect.  I've often told about the more difficult sides of life in India.  I mean, that's where a lot of the juicy, funny, crazy things come from.  But, there's some great stuff, too.  This is part of what makes having experiences around the world hard.  You can't have them all in one place.  As I enjoy coffee with my friends, fireside chats with my Mom, snowball fights with the kids, blending in to the crowd, knowing the language, traveling with relative ease, and eating burgers, there are things I'm missing.  So, here goes:

• My Home!  My home is on the side of a mountain.  It's pretty big.  It has a grassy yard with a trampoline that the kids can jump on.  It has a kitchen where I know where everything is and I've chosen most of what's in there.
• Spice.  It's fun to hear people talk about how they've just discovered how healthy/tasty/useful these 'new' ingredients are for their cooking or how they are taking capsules filled with herbs and spices that are on my food almost daily back home.  Turmeric, cardamom, ginger, black mustard, cumin seed, yum!  I miss my spice cabinet.
• Small meals.  When you visit friends, anywhere on the globe, you are likely to overeat.  So, when you visit friends for 2 months, you overeat for 2 months.  It will be nice to eat small meals at my table and fit into my jeans again.  When I wear my jeans.
• Scarves.  Hahaha!  Chris has been making fun of me because I often complained about the various scarves that culture dictates I should wear back home.  It drove me nuts getting used to them.  I still don't particularly care for them when it's over 90 degrees.  But, right now, in the winter, I'm finding every excuse to grab a scarf.  I even have wrapped it around my head like I do back home because it's comfortable to me now.  Who'd have thought?  The accessory I previously referred to as "shackles" is now a go-to garment!
• My House Helper.  Now, I must admit that since I've been a guest for most of the time we've been in the States, I have don't little housework.  I'd say even less than I do back home.  So, it's not the house help that I miss.  It's my friend.  I'd see her almost every day and get to chat about our kids and such.  I miss her.  She has such a gentle spirit and is such an encouragement and blessing to me.  I miss her.
• Mountains.  Oh, the view is beautiful at my home.  I just love to look out the windows and hope it's a clear day so I can see them jutting up in every direction.  I love taking my kids for walks behind our house and watching them try to climb rocks, or keep them from stepping in, picking up, sitting on, or eating the goat poo all around them.  Okay, I don't love the poo so much, but . . .  I love the smell of mountain thyme that grows out there and that I collected and dried and used in my food.
• Challenge.  Yep, I miss the challenge a bit.  America is easy.  Sometimes too easy.  It's easy to get complacent.  To just sit and watch TV.  To wrap myself in a comfy blanket on a comfy couch and forget what I've seen and the people I know who can't get comfy.  I miss the challenge of daily life that keeps me in touch with most of the world.

I'm sure there are other things.  Lots of other things, but that will do for now.  It's nice to know that when I return, those things will be waiting for me.  Those people will be waiting for me.  It's good to have a home.