finally home

although entirely surreal, it feels very good to write our first blog from lexington.  we arrived on the evening of the last day of august to a hot and dried up kentucky.  after two marvelous weeks in london with our dear friends, the turners, we returned home via a long london taxi ride, two flights (through the dreaded jfk) to meet my parents at the cincinnati airport.

the following morning (saturday), our family celebrated isaac's fourth birthday.  along with my parents, my sister and her son marc were here and it made his day.  amid all the boxes and suitcases we ate spongebob cake.

sunday evening we attended our first communality gathering in almost eight months.  it was sweet and comforting, like anything deeply familiar, with a bit of twilight zone mixed in.  so clearly things had changed - some gone, some new - very alive and well.

on labor day, the last holiday of the summer, we attended a delightful b'bque hosted by the samsons.  with the temperature above 90, we enjoyed great local fare and the thrill of long-awaited reunion with others. 

we also visited our close friends, aida and dino.  his parents are here from bosnia and he has not seen them for over three years.  we talked and laughed as they served my parents and me turkish-style coffee and a shot of a special "moonshine" from bosnia.  i was reminded again that there is no better hospitality.  aida told me she has waited eight months to have mexican food with me again. 

we find ourselves reeling with the joy of homecoming, the return of many things forgotten, the rush of new things and a small dose of jetlag.  our brains are working hard to translate back to what we know and recall long-stored data.   we hear the noisy street, the familiar sounds particular to our neighborhood and we treasure the view from our kitchen window of our beloved  thriving garden (thanks to laura) and we step outside and smell kentuckywith a sharpened sense of this place .  we are giddy and lightheaded and fully grounded at once. 

it is good to be home.