Home

No one will ever accuse me of having a home that looks like a magazine, with throw pillows artfully arranged, gleaming hardwood floors, and everything in its place. We will never need an alarm system to protect our valuables because our valuables all wear fur coats or are pieces of art made mostly by our kids- neither exactly hot items to pawn.
And yet, all of this surrounding me daily is precious and priceless. I can't imagine sitting on the couch without at least 2 animals on my lap or beside me; it just wouldn't be home. I wondered this morning as I filled bowls with fresh water and cat food, handed out treats to the dogs as they came in from the cold, and cut banana pieces for the rabbits, how it would feel to get up in the morning and have no one to take care of but Jim and me. It was like trying to imagine walking with one leg- out of balance and missing something necessary. I smile when I look at our "dining room" because only the rabbits actually dine there. Charlie and Stuarts' pen sits below the bay window and Jeffrey and Nutmegs' is opposite. There is generally some hay on the floor, if not from our dropping a piece when we fill their pans twice a day, then from the cats who pull it from the pens and eat it or bat it around.
In addition to its occupants, this home surrounds me with warmth and comfort. Like an old friend, I trust these walls to anchor and support me and to provide a place where I know I will always be welcome. I love our flower gardens in the warm months, and my mind's eye sees the bright colors in the summer sun even as I look upon our snow shrouded yard. Even now, as the furnace hums its soothing sound, I look forward to the breezes of April blowing through windows opened wide. Now we enjoy the flickering light of candles in the still dark February evenings and eat dinner by the fireplace, but soon the fireflies will replace the candles and we'll spend time late in the day outside on the porch swing at sunset. And in between, we will continue to go out and live our work day lives in other places with other people, knowing that, if we are so blessed, we will return home again to our beloved cottage on Sheffield Road.