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We landed back in the US 12 days ago and this is the first blogpost I've put up since we arrived. I had to change the photo header and the description to sit our current surroundings and I figured why not change the color layout as well! Change is good. Keeps things fresh. Right?!
Fortunately the trip was uneventful and we got all of our luggage home without incident. We had a quick stopover at Heathrow airport in London where we were able to pick up egg salad sandwiches and notice the embarrassing headlines regarding the US.
Lovely, NOT.
It is always nice to land in warmth and bright sunshine, but in the dead of winter, it's especially nice.
Our departure from Paris was laced with tears and laughs and the joy of savouring a year of pure delight. The American Church in Paris will always hold a place of high regard in our lives and the memories of our life there will remain bold and impressionable. We're soaking up the podcasts and keeping up on what's happening through the website and contact with colleagues. We miss our dear colleagues, the students we worked with and the joy of Sunday worship services that always inspired. But it's also pretty wonderful to be back in the home that we have built, in an area that we love. It's amazing that even 4-5 years down the road from my parents' passing, when I return to this area, I miss them. 
I wish they were here. That feeling returned once again as we pulled into our town. We remain thankful that my cousins live nearby. They provide us with a sense of family that is otherwise void for us in this area. They helped us out tremendously in the months that we were gone and we are forever grateful for their willingness to watch over our house and take care of our mail and any number of other details that come up when you live abroad. Thank you Mike and Susan!
Coming back this time we have a few more friends in the area and it's been wonderful to have people greet us and welcome us back. We were invited to a retirement for a friend and many of the folks that we enjoy playing golf with and hanging with were there.
What fun to be welcomed back. We had to laugh a bit as the party started at 5.30 and was pretty much over by 9.00. We are not in Paris anymore where nothing ever got going much before 8.00! Life here consists of early nights and early mornings.
We started playing golf and returned to our water aerobics class pretty much right away.
The water exercise is the best I've had for the issues related to my hip and back and I'm thankful for the opportunity to swim and sit in the jacuzzi. Water is healing! Picking grapefruit, lemons and limes, squeezing juice daily, and using them in my cooking is awesome. 
It never ceases to amaze me that we have this out our back door.
The garden looked pretty good although was a bit ragged in places. Doug has worked hard to get it looking good again.
The house was in good shape but of course, there's too much stuff and lots of disorganization so as we've unpacked we've tried to re-organize a bit. Always feels good to have a clean start.
I love my kitchen, the big sink, the gas stove and the large island. We love having our outdoor grill. And we've traded fresh baguettes for fresh tortillas. So far I don't miss it too much! I do miss the French grocery store, the beautiful food and ease with which food termed gourmet here in the US was just readily available. I did find my favorite cheese at Trader Joe's so when I really need a fix, I can splurge.
I love driving my car but I hate that I have to drive everywhere! No walking to the neighborhood store to pick something up. We loved watching the Minnesota Vikings and their miracle finish against the Saints, only to suffer the disappointment of getting trounced in the NFC championship game. We love our big TV and our comfortable and beautiful living room. We went shopping at outlets yesterday and found great deals on nice clothes and stopped to eat at In-n-Out on the way home. We've met friends for Happy Hour. We've sat on the patio and taken in the starry sky.
Trump's America is as disgusting to me as ever and I just want to renounce all support of this man from the far right conservative evangelical leaders. He does not get a 'mulligan' on his moral failures. He continues to articulate a racist point of view of minority people and wants to dismantle so many good things in this nation. Those who support him seem to be able to give him a pass in return for the returns they are seeing in their stock investments. This represents a moral failure of catastrophic proportions. Who is looking out for the vulnerable and the weak? I'm quite sure that people's giving percentage has not increased with the increase in their portfolios and that is why trickle down economics do not work. The trickle just dries up as soon as the flow of money comes into the fat cats pockets. Sorry, just needed to be clear about where I stand, in case that was in question!
We miss people. Always. But I love the sunshine. Love the recreational opportunities that are now at our fingertips. Love seeing folks who we haven't seen for a long time. Love being back in the US time zone, having phone conversations with Doug's mom on a regular basis and connecting with friends.
Right now, it feels like we are on vacation so our life is kind of resembling that.
Eventually we'll have to figure out what we want to be doing with our time. I need to work on my project for the Louisville Institute so plan to get that going pretty soon. We need/want to find a church that we can enjoy and volunteer with. We'd like to learn more about what other volunteer opportunities/needs there are here in the Coachella Valley and figure out where we might be useful. In the meantime, we are enjoying our life here. We are thankful for another season of sabbatical as we adjust to life in the US, ponder when our next trip back to Europe might be and in what capacity and enjoy the joy and beauty of each new day here in desert.
Fortunately the trip was uneventful and we got all of our luggage home without incident. We had a quick stopover at Heathrow airport in London where we were able to pick up egg salad sandwiches and notice the embarrassing headlines regarding the US.
Lovely, NOT.It is always nice to land in warmth and bright sunshine, but in the dead of winter, it's especially nice.
Our departure from Paris was laced with tears and laughs and the joy of savouring a year of pure delight. The American Church in Paris will always hold a place of high regard in our lives and the memories of our life there will remain bold and impressionable. We're soaking up the podcasts and keeping up on what's happening through the website and contact with colleagues. We miss our dear colleagues, the students we worked with and the joy of Sunday worship services that always inspired. But it's also pretty wonderful to be back in the home that we have built, in an area that we love. It's amazing that even 4-5 years down the road from my parents' passing, when I return to this area, I miss them. 
I wish they were here. That feeling returned once again as we pulled into our town. We remain thankful that my cousins live nearby. They provide us with a sense of family that is otherwise void for us in this area. They helped us out tremendously in the months that we were gone and we are forever grateful for their willingness to watch over our house and take care of our mail and any number of other details that come up when you live abroad. Thank you Mike and Susan!Coming back this time we have a few more friends in the area and it's been wonderful to have people greet us and welcome us back. We were invited to a retirement for a friend and many of the folks that we enjoy playing golf with and hanging with were there.
What fun to be welcomed back. We had to laugh a bit as the party started at 5.30 and was pretty much over by 9.00. We are not in Paris anymore where nothing ever got going much before 8.00! Life here consists of early nights and early mornings.We started playing golf and returned to our water aerobics class pretty much right away.
The water exercise is the best I've had for the issues related to my hip and back and I'm thankful for the opportunity to swim and sit in the jacuzzi. Water is healing! Picking grapefruit, lemons and limes, squeezing juice daily, and using them in my cooking is awesome. 
It never ceases to amaze me that we have this out our back door.The garden looked pretty good although was a bit ragged in places. Doug has worked hard to get it looking good again.
The house was in good shape but of course, there's too much stuff and lots of disorganization so as we've unpacked we've tried to re-organize a bit. Always feels good to have a clean start.I love my kitchen, the big sink, the gas stove and the large island. We love having our outdoor grill. And we've traded fresh baguettes for fresh tortillas. So far I don't miss it too much! I do miss the French grocery store, the beautiful food and ease with which food termed gourmet here in the US was just readily available. I did find my favorite cheese at Trader Joe's so when I really need a fix, I can splurge.
I love driving my car but I hate that I have to drive everywhere! No walking to the neighborhood store to pick something up. We loved watching the Minnesota Vikings and their miracle finish against the Saints, only to suffer the disappointment of getting trounced in the NFC championship game. We love our big TV and our comfortable and beautiful living room. We went shopping at outlets yesterday and found great deals on nice clothes and stopped to eat at In-n-Out on the way home. We've met friends for Happy Hour. We've sat on the patio and taken in the starry sky.
Trump's America is as disgusting to me as ever and I just want to renounce all support of this man from the far right conservative evangelical leaders. He does not get a 'mulligan' on his moral failures. He continues to articulate a racist point of view of minority people and wants to dismantle so many good things in this nation. Those who support him seem to be able to give him a pass in return for the returns they are seeing in their stock investments. This represents a moral failure of catastrophic proportions. Who is looking out for the vulnerable and the weak? I'm quite sure that people's giving percentage has not increased with the increase in their portfolios and that is why trickle down economics do not work. The trickle just dries up as soon as the flow of money comes into the fat cats pockets. Sorry, just needed to be clear about where I stand, in case that was in question!
We miss people. Always. But I love the sunshine. Love the recreational opportunities that are now at our fingertips. Love seeing folks who we haven't seen for a long time. Love being back in the US time zone, having phone conversations with Doug's mom on a regular basis and connecting with friends.
Right now, it feels like we are on vacation so our life is kind of resembling that.
Eventually we'll have to figure out what we want to be doing with our time. I need to work on my project for the Louisville Institute so plan to get that going pretty soon. We need/want to find a church that we can enjoy and volunteer with. We'd like to learn more about what other volunteer opportunities/needs there are here in the Coachella Valley and figure out where we might be useful. In the meantime, we are enjoying our life here. We are thankful for another season of sabbatical as we adjust to life in the US, ponder when our next trip back to Europe might be and in what capacity and enjoy the joy and beauty of each new day here in desert. |
| Taken this morning, just as I finished up the blog |
