Welcome Home

 

   The innkeeper left a note in our room for us. It started out "welcome home". I had to smile. In a way we are at our second home. We've come to this same place longer than any other place we have ever been. It's the 13th time that we've carried our suitcases up the staircase to this room. It's become a routine. After we carry our bags in, C starts hanging things up. I unpack my Ipod and I pad and put them on the bedside table. I take out the paperback books that I brought and put them by the tub. I put the pillow I brought on the bed. (Yes, I bring a pillow. I tend to have trouble sleeping in beds other than my own. Using my own pillow sometimes helps.)
  On Sunday we went to church. We were welcomed by people who remember us from past years when we have attended Sacrament Meeting there. It was good to see that they were able to build an addition to the chapel. It gives the branch some much needed room. In Relief Society, the teacher said that it was good to see "our gal from St. Paul". It made me feel so warm and happy inside.
  Yesterday it looked like the weather was going to be bad, so we decided it was a good day to shop. There are a lot of locally owned shops that we like to visit.
  The first place we went was the yarn shop. I found some nice white yarn to make a tie for C. I also found some bulky yarn that I will use to make some small rugs for Scamp and Colby to lay on. That was they won't feel the need to lay on the yarn in my knitting basket. I found a skein of blue yarn with sparkles in it. I have no idea what I'm going to do with it, but I will think of something.
  From there we went to the a shop that has items imported from Great Britain. We picked up a few times there to restock. I also got some chocolate, for some reason European chocolate tastes better than American chocolate.
  The next stop was a shop that carries cat related items. I got a toy for a friend's cat. I also got a scarf and a ceramic container to store cat treats. I think that the container is sturdy enough to keep Scamp out. We spent some time chatting with the shop keeper, mostly about our cats. It was good to talk to her.
  I found some compression socks at another store that I like. I also found a cute necklace as well. I had a wonderful chat with Kari, who was working that day. It turns out that she and I have something in common. We both have relatives in the small small town in northwestern Wisconsin. It was fun to chat with her.
  C got a few more cooking tools. We found a masher that we hope will work better than the one we have now. We found a vegetable peeler that we hope will not rust like the one that we have. We also found a new ceramic knife.
  I never thought about it before, but the note was right. It doesn't feel like we are visitors, it feels more like we are returning to a second home. We know people here and have some ties to this area. Yes, we are home.