Home Is Where The Heart Is

Croton On The Hudson
41 02.62 N 071 57.48 W

Libby made an interesting remark yesterday.  As we passed under the Verrazano Narrows Bridge yesterday she said, "I know that going under the Champlain Bridge means we are home again, but the Verrazano is also a milestone.  We're home."    I have to agree with her, but that raises the question, where is home?

Last year I wrote on this blog, about the emotional wash of returning home as we gazed over the landscape north of Athens New York on the Hudson.  There, the landscape, the foliage, the shape of the hills, and the climate become characteristic of the Mohawk Valley.  That is certainly home ground.

Also a bit beyond the Champlain Bridge, as we pass Spit Rock Point the beauty of the central body of Lake Champlain is revealed to us with mountains on either side.  That makes our hearts soar.  That is home waters.

So where is home?  It is where you know the people (or at least some people), the land, the climate, the local streets, and the local businesses.   That includes the multiple places we've lived on land.   Manlius, Fayetteville, Oran, Potsdam, Scotia, Schenectady, and West Charlton, all in New York. Västerås Sweden, Essex Junction and Burlington Vermont. Also places I've worked for prolonged times,  Daytona Beach, Studsvik and Nyköping Sweden, and Tapiola Finland.

But what about our home now as cruisers?   Certainly Tarwathie is home.  When we're away from the boat for a while and we return we say, "It's nice to be home again."

But the boat doesn't fit the definition of knowing the people, the climate and the local streets and businesses.   By that definition, we have several homes nowadays.   Burlington and Vergennes Vermont, Waterford and Whitehall New York, The Dismal Swamp Welcome Center, Elizabeth City, Oriental, and New Bern, North Carolina, Fernandina Beach, Vero Beach and Marathon Florida.   Those places meet all the criteria.

Which of those is our main home?  Tough question.  We love all those places.  That's why we visit them so many times every year.  Marathon is the most fun and hopefully where we spend the most time.  If you twist my arm however, I'm forced to admit that Vero Beach is one place  we "know"  better than those other places.

So, I surprised myself by examining this question.  15 minutes ago I would have said that we are nomads, we have no home.   But after a bit of introspection I see that's not true.  The concept of home still has powerful emotional meaning to Libby and I.   The difference is that now our "home" on the boat moves with us as we move between our multiple homes.  Evidently he concept of home remains powerful even though the definition of home is very pliable.