well, i’m back home again. it’s nice to be here, enjoying the comfort of familiarity. sometimes it is nice to go elsewhere, to experience other cultures and see life in a different way – but often even then what we really desire is to be home, to be in a context that is known and understood. that’s how i feel as it sit here next to the fire. enlightened by the experience of my travels in the wild and wide, but glad to be able to come back home to the recognizable and familiar. even if what i know has it’s flaws – and oh, it does – it’s a known quantity and in that it allows space for relaxation and a lowering of the guard. and what a kindness that turns out to be.