Many years have passed since I first had reason to recognize that Home was not a built structure or even a location but a state of mind, a condition of the heart. It becomes associated with places by virtue of the happiness that embraces us there and also to the degree of intensity with which we are cared for and loved by the people of that place. The beauty of this characteristic is that Home can become portable when we are able to revisit those people or that contentment and security, belonging and joy, wherever they go, even in memory at times.
The complication therein is that the more places become Home, the more ways I can feel Homesick.
I will never complain of this any more than I would of any other pleasure or privilege, even when they fill me to the point of bursting–can anyone ever truly be surfeited with happiness? But there are times, perhaps those happy times most of all, when my reverie strays down all the pretty paths that lead to those many beloved locales and times where and when I’ve felt most accepted, at ease, at peace. My heart follows, soaring over all the lands and seas and resting where it will: in the arms of loving and hospitable friends and towns and favored hideaways and palaces I’m privileged to know as Home. It’s not that I can’t be contented where I am, it’s that the well of contentment runs so deep that every aquifer offshoot of it eventually leads my thought and memory back to other greatly loved locales. 
It can happen at the edge of the crashing January ocean, beside a crackling fire, on an island-hopping ferry-boat, in the midst of sweeping farmland fields, or in the center of some sizzling, jazzy, noisy city. When I feel it, my breathing speeds up just a little and my heart’s singular syncopation becomes more pronounced and I might feel just the slightest sting of salt cutting at the corners of my eyes. Suddenly there is that tingling, that sub-sonic hum, that says I am at Home–and this is how I can invoke a rooted joy that echoes back to me with whispers of welcome in so many marvelous parts of the world.
I have been genuinely at home in the immensity of an ancient forest and on the flanks of a gleaming mountain; under the Gothic vaults of a cathedral, the low roof of a cozy suburban home, or under the spangled starry night-bold sky; among humble strangers whose language is worlds away from mine and in the arms of my dearest, closest and longest-known loved ones. Home, whatever and wherever it may be, is precious beyond words and missed in every atom of its forms at any moment when it is not near or I’m not in it.
What I could not imagine, all those years ago, was that I would find myself at home as well in a construct as much as in a constructed place. Yet here I am, posting letters daily to a family of people I may never even meet, and feeling as though I am in a kindly, hospitable place of heart and mind that tells me once again that I am Home. May you, too, who are reading this, always find–or make–yourself good homes in all the places that you can, whether in a graciously appointed house or in a soul-filling hermitage of your choosing; whether surrounded by the comforting presence of people who fill your days with delight or in the quiet retreat of your own contemplative corner–or right here, where you are always welcome to come and sit for a little while and chat and go by the name of Friend.
Art-Colored Glasses 
Lovely post. I know exactly what you mean. The feelings that make somewhere home are for me emotionally tied to my state of mind at any given time, and have no real fixed abode. Thanks for the lovely post.
You’re very welcome, my friend! You won’t be surprised to know how much food has to do with my sense of comfort and familiarity, so I know I’d feel at home at your place too, having seen the lovely things you prepare (and especially, having seen the excellent collection of noodles you keep on hand!). 🙂
Mercy, home is a strange word with many meanings! And arent we strange and kind of lovely how we can make a home out here in cyber space.. have a great evening Katherine! c
Thank you, my sweet, yes, I am so very glad that a sense of belonging and comfort can be found in so many places and ways!
xoxo
What a reflection on the concept of ‘home’…and I must agree that home can be anywhere as long as you feel like you belong there – like you can be happy there. Beautiful…and your pictures are simply stunning.
Very sweet of you, ‘Nessa. They are all photos that relate directly to various places and conditions in which I’ve found Home: NYC (Central Park); a former backyard of mine in Washington; my own fireside here in Texas; farm country in Panama; and walking in a wooded park with my husband! 🙂
What a beautiful perspective about where home truly is, Kathryn, and your photos are simply amazing! xx
I told Ms. Bluesander, above, what the photos are from, because they do reflect some specific aspects of Home for me. 🙂
xoxo!
Kathryn
I think this is one of my favorite posts of your Kathryn… you’ve really captured the essence of home.. I’m feeling a “tingly hum” and so glad to be here reading this today:) xoxo Smidge
I always do feel at home in your company, Barbara, and have done so since first ‘meeting’–I think that connectedness I feel with a handful of my blogging friends is one of the prime motivators for this piece.
xoxo
Kathryn
Such a wonderful post, Kathryn, and what a gracious wish for your/our blogging community! As you know, I often save your posts for last, ending my day with a smile. Tonight will be no exception and, with any luck, I’ll dream of all those special places I’ve come to know as home. Thank you for that and may your days always end with a smile.
John, dear, when I read your posts *and* your comments, I do always finish up with a big smile. I thank you for that! It’s decidedly one of those aspects of ‘belonging’ and comfort that lend their character to my personal sense of Home. 🙂
Beautifully written Kathryn! Strange how we have all become so close here in cyberspace – very special indeed.
🙂 Mandy
I consider it a particular gift and happy surprise, Mandy! Isn’t it wonderful how we find our community in such amazing places . . . 🙂
xoxo
Kathryn
Gosh yes *home* is so important wherever it is. I hadn’t thought of my cyber space as a home before but you are so right it is. I spotted a few typos on my blog this am so I corrected them and I am wondering now if this is the cyber equivalent of hovering and dusting before friends visit. A lovely post with much food for thought.
((Giggle!)) I do the same thing. Potting around, looking for bits and bobs that need just a little more order or tidying up before I go off to see the ‘neighbors’ over at their blogs! 🙂
I’m still having issues wrestling with the word “home” since I moved away from what was home for all of my life over a year ago. I suppose home is where you are and where you are comfortable. I dunno….still working out the bugs on the noun. Love the pictures.
In some ways, I think I was aided early in my understanding of Home as being so flexible, because I knew that ancestors as recent as my mother’s father left family and country far behind in the quest to make a living, make their way in the world. Gramps, in fact, longed so much for the Old Country and relatives that he tried to move back to Norway with his wife and two little ones when Mom was very small, but he quickly discovered that it was no longer Home for him, and certainly not so for the rest of his family, and moved back to the states rather hurriedly. My own immediate family began dispersing and changing my sense of my lifelong place in Washington as my only home too when my sisters first all studied overseas and then my youngest sister married and moved to where she’d studied in college–quite close to where Gramps grew up, coincidentally.
This is very lovely, Kathryn, with such a fluency of thoughts and words. And the pictures complement it beautifully. You are such an excellent writer and present you posts so well..
I have to say that I have never felt so ‘at home’ as in the actual place I live right now. Going away in a physical way is not something that appeals to me right now. When I was younger I did travel, and wanted to, but that urge doesn’t seem to be running through my veins these days. Saying that I totally agree that there is something so home-y about the connections I’ve made through blogging. And through my imagination, writing and research I travel much, time-and-geography-wise. You have obviously traveled with your mind and heart and all your senses open. I know people who have journeyed extensively but haven’t been much affected by the experience at all. I think of Emily Dickinson who hardly traveled and yet traversed the world through her imagination in such a vibrant and enlightened way.
I wrote a post way back last July that touched on this:http://bardessdmdenton.wordpress.com/2011/07/16/shining-on-appointed-sands/
Oh, and a fabulous post it is! Thank you so much for sharing it with me. I am happy beyond words that you have found a true Home where you are. That is a treasure of immense value.
xoxo!
The words and images are an invitation to a place to rest a while. Thank you.
Ah, you’ve hit upon it exactly: Home is always a place to feel at Peace, for me. I hope you will always find as many such places as you can wish!
xoxo
To paraphrase Robin Williams in Good Morning Vietnam: In the dictionary under ‘home’ it says, ‘See WordPress’…
😀 !!!