home.

I went home to Georgia for two and half days. 
at the beginning of the week, smashed between an overwhelming work load
and a trip to the coast.

I talked myself out of going almost everyday for nearly seventy two hours before

I just didn't have time. I couldn't be away a single weekday more than I already am.

excuses, reality, exhaustion, rush.

But every moment I thought of my mom, my dad I teared up

I glanced to see "mom" glow on my caller id and I could barely swallow the lump in my throat

I needed to go

home

I hadn't been since March, which is four months too long.

I needed them. I needed that smell, those pine floors beneath my feet.

I wanted our kitchen table, time in the field, a good elbow in the side or tripped up feet

from my brother.

So I loaded up, packed up 4 days earlier than my planned departure.

I added work boots, "play clothes" and a pair of blue jeans to my luggage

I arrived close to midnight on Sunday and missed my exit because I was singing...too loudly, too intently.

singing Robert Earl Keen, a song that means I'm almost home.

I caught the tail end of a lil bluegrass concert in the library

ate fresh green beans, peas and corn from our garden

cornbread and honey

at midnight

I was home, it was heaven it was home.

I picked beans one morning and tomatoes the next

shucked corn until I thought I'd never breathe the word again

my brother is the farmer

I am not. It was hard work. It was hot.
but I sweat through it all. appreciating every single scrape, itch, drop of sweat and dirty fingernail.

I got to meet our new farm pup
that annoyed me to no end and made me smile every second.
I was able to visit my first cousin Lisa and her two boys who live Kenya Africa, here for 3 weeks this summer.
they are special. actually Special is an understatement. they are magnetic, they are refreshing. two rockstar kids I can't get enough of.


it was a quick two days, but it was vital.
I felt Laurel come back. the real Laurel.
between a wise crack from my mama and the snicker of ridiculousness from my brother 
between each rock back and forth on the front porch as my dad and I talked politics
and when I sat in "my" chair at the kitchen table over country fried steak & creamed corn.

good ole Laurel came back.
a breath of fresh air, a wide open sky 
it was funny, it was work.
I reconnected. I felt my wings ease up and my roots tighten down.
I was home.
it felt like heaven, it looked like home.