We are thirty days into our seven weeks away staying in our motorhome in a campground in Florida. This will be the longest, to date, we’ve been away from home.

Admittedly, I’ve had a few moments of feeling homesick as I am by nature a homebody. While rolled into the mix is the fact that I am also really enjoying our time away too.

Earlier in the week I was thinking about home, spring, and planting my garden when we return, I searched for a garden center in the area and found one in a nearby town. It is called Cottage Garden and spoke to the part of me that was missing home and my cottage studio.

So off we went on the forty-minute drive. Cottage Garden is the epitome of all things garden, cottage, shabby chic and more. From the outside it does not look all that big, but they have utilized every space on the property. There are endless nooks and crannies and many twists and turns that brings delight after delight of fun things to see.

When we arrived we pulled around back to park. Getting out of the car there are endless ways in which your eye can go with all the pots, painted pottery, antiques, plants, and more.

But my eyes landed on the sweetest and best spot! Of course, my body then followed suit and off I was moving toward a darling cat laying on the bottom of what looked like a garden bench.

As I put my hand out slowly to see if the cat was open to being petted, its tail calmly swished back and forth. I then heard a male voice say, “That’s Billy, the resident cat. He’s very friendly.”

As I stroked the top of Billy’s head, the employee told me that a stray cat had kittens, one of which was Billy. Though Billy wouldn’t get his name until a year later.

That’s because the kittens were all taken to a local shelter. If they aren’t adopted out in the first year, the shelter then releases the cats to live on their own.

This is when the kitten, now a year old, found his way back to Cottage Garden where he was welcomed and given his name Billy.

While initially it might be easy to judge and think it a cruel thing to do, to release the cats back out into the world to fend for themselves, I found the story of Billy touching.

We just never know the journey of another being. How often it is we think we know what is best and have our ideas of how things should be. But in this case, this was indeed the path Billy was meant to take.

Cottage Garden and Billy’s journey back there entailed just one small seemingly wrong turn before he’d find his way to where he was meant to be and is now content as can be.

Home Sweet Cottage Garden Home.

It was also a lovely reminder to me to stay in the now on this short sojourn I am on while in Florida and enjoy each precious moment. While also being grateful that I have a home I will return to that brings me another aspect of what provides me happiness.

So a special thank you to Billy and the employee who shared his story with me that touched my heart.

XO

Barb

Freezing fog again this morning makes for the most gorgeous of trees and branches that take on a frosty and lacey effect.

Walking up this path as I set out on my walk around 7 a.m. I felt like I was was eveloped between worlds.

Yesterday, another foggy day – we’ve had quite a few lately – at one point, later in the day, it felt unnerving because it was also exceptionally quiet and still.

But why I was feeling unsettled about this, I wondered? When I thought about it more, I recalled years ago leaving the corporate world, in part, because I craved quiet.

It then occurred to me that my nervous system had been on high alert the last few years with all we’ve been through. And the stillness wasn’t feeling comfortable. In a way it felt like I was waiting, to use an old pun, “for the other shoe to drop.”

But was that a story I was just telling myself? Perhaps I should just relax and enjoy this space of stillness. A reminder that when we go through times of upheaval in our lives, it’s only temporary. And that indeed, stillness does return. But none of it is to be feared, but rather are the cycles of life.

Returning from my walk I was curious about the symbolism of fog. While it can represent the boundary between reality and illusion, and mystery, uncertainty and confusion, it was this meaning from a website that struck me.

“Fog can be soothing; giving you the sense that the things which trouble you are far, far away, and allowing you to let go of the stresses and strains of your everyday life.”

While yes, there is always uncertainty in life, I appreciate this insight that fog can also be an opportunity to just relax into what is and let go of any worries.

And just like that, as I finish writing this post, the sun has come out. Dissolving the world of fog and we now enter into another world of sunshine.

Indeed, we are always walking between worlds.

XO

Barb