Family

We just got home from one of our trips North.  They are so familiar and comfortable.  Packing the car the night before, getting coffee in the early morning darkness with other sleepy folks starting their day, fuzzy conversations until the sun rises as we pass over the grapevine and get immersed in the tule fog.  The conversations turn sharper and we hear happy yawns in the back seat and then before we've even really sunken into the trip, we arrive to warm open arms of family.

This particular trip, we actually saw a wide range of loved ones, both Gould and DeJesus, both friends and family.  They were special days and when we got our fuzzy morning coffee for the way home, it left me with a feeling of longing.  Our trip home was as road trips are to us - relaxing and satisfying but there was something that just seemed to be a pull and tug in my chest this time.  I should remember that I am so lucky to have a family that makes me feel this way.

When we got home and started to unpack and make a grocery list for the week, Strider and Cheyenne rolled around and gave each other kisses.  This was one of those polaroid moments - one that the memory and exact thought gets snapped and then in that moment that you shake the color into the scene, you know that you captured a feeling and not just a moment.  It is hard to put into words really, but this moment was the feeling of a family.  We four - dog and baby, husband and wife, - are a family, in and of itself.    Not really a profound idea - it is a pretty obvious concept, but this feeling, this polaroid scene, felt quite grounding.