Home . . . and Back Home, Again

The Pink Towers - Long Beach, Long Island. September 2007.

For years and years, I thought vacations always had to be new adventures, new places, new paths.

This year, I stock-piled my vacation days for September and went up to my childhood home and spent a nice chunk of time with my family.

This vacation was about familiar, beloved garden spots. The ocean and all its tastes and smells that were the background sensory experiences of my childhood. Italian dinners and German bakeries and Long Island farmers' markets. Lots of garden walks and egg creams with my mom. Laughing with my dad. Bidding my youngest brother, Brian, goodbye as he headed out to Chicago for a new adventure of his own.

I am sated and rested. And my mind is filled with images of my family and all of those seminal places. Images that I carry with me everyday. Images and memories that influence how I daydream about gardening, creating my own spaces in our home and on our land and what matters in my day-to-day life.

I'm happy to take a long break from big adventures and over-the-top vacations. Especially when I can find all I need in a trip back to where it all started. In revisiting what I love.

And in a satisfying plate of Eggplant Parmesan.