Where the heart is

Being back at Llangollen on Rehoboth Bay here in Delaware feels like home.

And yet, a piece of my heart will always be in Massachusetts, where I was born and raised up and educated and from whence I've just returned after a five month sabbatical as Proctor Scholar at EDS.

I'm glad to be here but I'm already missing my odd little "Thomas's English Muffin" apartment - the one with all the 'nooks and crannies' - on the third floor of the last house on the cul de sac of St. John's Road in Cambridge.

My little pup, Theo, did quite well in the car. It was a Very Big trip for him - the longest he's ever spent in the car at one time. And, he's not exactly fond of the car. It was four hours to NJ and then three and a half to DE.

Round about CT he actually settled down and stopped shaking and did fine the whole rest of the journey. I was very proud of him.

Ms. Conroy is here with Mr. Lenny ("Sir Lostalot") and Ms CoCo (Queen Mouther of Barksalot). The Queen Mouther has dubbed Theo "Sir Woofsalot" and taken him on as one of her subjects. Loyalty will, no doubt, be something she has to earn - or Theo will have to learn.

Film at 11.

Theo is very curious about the boats going by the house. He watches them carefully as they come slowly from the Bay into the Sound and by the Marshes. Ms. CoCo is convinced they are a potential threat to the pack, so when she hears them coming, she jumps off her favorite place on the couch pillow and charges into the Sun Room and onto the deck, barking the entire way.

Lenny sort of looks around, not quite sure what to do - but that's his usual posture about everything these days. Even toys. Or, food. Early Doggy Alzheimer's, we think.

Theo 'woofs' in solidarity with CoCo, but isn't quite sure why she's so upset. I mean - that thing? On the water? Out there? What is it, anyway, and why are we supposed to bark at it?

By the time the boys have figured it all out - or, in Lenny's case, not - Ms. CoCo is done with her work and has returned to her place on the couch. The boys then return to their respective places: Lenny by my feet and Theo on his pillow near my chair. It's all quiet until the next boat goes by, and this weekend, it's like the Mass Turnpike out there.

Ms. Conroy has been doing her own barking and woofing about the yard. All that winter snow and spring rain have caused an abundance of weeds to sprout and grow. She's been pulling them out and is now about 75% done.

She's at the Farm Store now, getting the "string" (or whatever it's called) for the weed whacker which will be tonight's chore - after the sun goes down. She'll also purchase the weed killer which we'll put down tomorrow morning before church.

This is how she relaxes.

Don't even go there, okay?

I still have lots of unpacking to do, but I'm taking my time about it all. The weather is just too lovely to spend inside the house. It's in the high 80s / low 90s today with a lovely wind coming up from the South. It feels almost like a tropical trade wind.

Besides, my heart needs to unpack all the things it filled up in Cambridge. I need to let go of some things before I can fully move back into Llangollen.

Home is supposedly where the heart is.

It appears that I have several places in my heart where I call home.

How very blessed am I?