Time Away

The best thing about time away from work, the usual, school, and everything else....is the return. I have spent three days in the company of an odd assortment of people who recharge me, engage me and challenge me in the best ways. A few sad souls think that the reason we remain as close as we do is that there must be something wrong with us--we are stuck in the past or some such psycho-babble. However, as I age, I recognize the simple fact that these people are my family. Closer than blood ties, these are the people I choose to remain with in a manner that I never could with my family...an intimacy that transcends....that illuminates...that gently (and sometimes not so gently) teases and reminds one of one's past......that nudges....that feeds....that rests.....and not unlike the approaching autumn....it lingers on my heart as I drive north...to home.