Home Sweet Home

A few days ago, after I finished a run, I turned around and took in the scene of the wonderful place I call home. I was captured by the moment. I looked down the road I have traveled so many times. It's so perfectly beautiful the way it bends out of sight and is set off by the golden-yellow October leaves of the cottonwoods.

The evening sun was dimly glowing

on the hill to the east, bringing out the path of red dirt and  the deep green of the pines. The only sounds were the gobbling of the turkeys and my own breathing. I took in a deep breath. 

"You're not going to have this forever," a voice inside me said.

I'm not going to have this forever, but honestly, this is all I want. This is everything. This is my home. I wouldn't trade London, Paris, or Rome for what I have right here. Not the  mountains of Colorado nor waterfalls of Ireland--though my heart ever longs to explore them--will never take the place of my sweet hills. Lately I have been constantly yearning to get out and travel--taste and explore the world! I've been wanting to go somewhere completely new and exciting. While I still want to do this, I've been reminded of just how beautiful this place is. How special the land right under my feet is to me. 

I have watered this land with my sweat and tears. This is where my thoughts were captured before they ever took form on paper. This is where my soul first came alive, where adventure first called me, and where my heart first fell in love--with this very land. 

This is me--every part of me, and I wouldn't trade it for anything. 

Not even all the wonders of the world.