Home From the Hill

Every time I come home, I’m reminded of the Robert Louis Stevenson poem Requiem. Here’s the excerpt I remember, the verse to be carved on a headstone.

Here he lies where he long’d to be;
Home is the sailor, home from the sea,
And the hunter home from the hill.

There was a time that my life revolved around work. The Navy gave me many opportunities for adventure over the years and I loved having them. When Kirsten and the kids came along, I liked being at home as much as I liked having an adventure at sea. This past year, my time at home became more precious to me than any exploit or enterprise that takes me away from the family.
Now don’t get me wrong, I’m still going to look for adventures, some with the family and others solo, but I’ll do it knowing that nothing beats the one going on every day at home.

I’ll be back to writing tomorrow and I’ve already got my blog post underway based on using the actions of a discourteous fellow traveller as inspiration for a story scene.