I miss home.
I’ve only been gone a few days, and I miss it.
I’m back in Michigan – about as homey as I can get in these 50 states since I was raised in Toledo (just south of the Michigan border) and lived briefly in Temperance, MI (the perfect place for a Methodist)
But it’s not home.
Home is where Gerry and the kids are.
Today Hannah gets back from Girl Scout camp in Wisconsin, Gerry, Max and Joel (Gerry’s brother) will meet her at the bus and then they’re all going to a Twins 
game. Max’s camp was supposed to go to the game yesterday, but it had been postponed for obvious reasons.
And, also for obvious reasons, I can’t get those missing folks out of my mind. Or their families. I so wish I were home.
Nothing since 9/11 has felt so MUCH like 9/11 to me – I’m sure because we live in the Twin Cities – and I’m choming at the bit to get home.
The whole bridge collapse thing – and being away from Gerry at the same time – has kind of unbalanced me – set me off my spin for a bit.
So I have to readjust, take some time to center myself, and get back into my usual rotation.
Maybe I should take up spinning…
And, since bridges – falling – water – all of my childhood fears were heavy on my mind, I was NOT happy to be sitting on the Blue Water Bridge for almost an hour yesterday as the traffic moved S L O W L Y over to the US side. The driving equivalent of the TSA lines at the airport.
In fact, traffic moved SO slowly I was able to put my car in park for minutes at a time and get some knitting done on the bridge. I was the envy of many folks as they noticed what I was doing – I was NOT bored
(And if I hadn’t had to pee so badly, I would have been pretty content! Now I understand why everyone was pulling off after the currency exchange to use the facilities!)
I was able to take a few minutes to work on my French, too!
I may not make friends by saying this, but I firmly believe in my gut (where our prez & Chertoff do much of their thinking) that so much of this ‘safety’ stuff is for show. It’s to condition us to stand behind the yellow line – to make us more managable.
I think real, useful funding to insure our safety is NOT being spent – not on policing, not on border partrols, but instead on wireless wiretaps and secret information gathering. Dossier gathering, if you ask me. And no one has asked me.
And, obviously, money is NOT being spent on infrastructure. Look at the steam pipe explosion in NYC, the fires in Dallas and now the bridge in Minneapolis. An INTERSTATE (Federal) bridge.
Infrastructure isn’t sexy, but maintenance is very necessary (any home owner knows that) – without maintenance, we fall apart. Think of the money we’re spending in Iraq, and imagine if we spent that on infrastructure, schools, and healthcare.
I’m babbling – dangerously close to a rant – flirting with getting on a list myself.
Perhaps this IS how I center myself?
I also center myself by Driving – I enjoy it, more than flying (that’s for sure!) – and it calms me. I drove from Sarnia to Lansing last night, checked into a hotel to spend an evening with just myself, Keith Olberman and my knitting.
Today I head over to Threadbear for an evening class, then two classes each day on Sat & Sun – I keep forgetting WHAT day it is – and then home! Home to pack, home to get us ready to go to Rochester, home to move lots of leftover stuff to the basement.
Monday we have a few meetings (bank for the loan papers, ALL for the cabinet approval, Textile Center to drop off RHK garments and a few other choice tasks.) Jennie the potter will be watching the kids for us Mon & Tues nights – she’s very centered, herself. Must be all those spinning plates…
We’ll drive down to Rochester, dropping off the dog at Pine Island on the way at a vet/boarding facility, and then we’ll start the preparation process to get Gerry ready for the BMT.
A whirl of work and nerves – that’s what I feel I’m made of these days.