January 11 2007

Text By Greg Fallis

We've all been there. Too many days on the road, too many nights in a strange bed, too many meals eaten in too many places, too many identical rooms in identical buildings filled with identical people. Regardless of how wonderful or successful or meaningful the experiences have been, there comes a point when you realize the universal truth of Dorothy's Law: there is no place like home.

Everything is easier to deal with when, at day's end, you can put your head down on your own pillow. All problems are more manageable when you can sit in a familiar chair and eat your own comfort food from your own bowl. Life at home may lack the romance of the road, but without the quiet counterpoint of home the road would not be romantic.

Aesop may have been right when he said familiarity breeds contempt, but it also breeds comfort and contentment. It is a delight to look out the window and see new wonders to be explored, but there are also deep, serene joys to be had in looking out the window and seeing your own front yard.