Technically “other” homeward bound! The car has been picked up from my home in California and is headed back to New Jersey, where my other home awaits to greet me with the warmth that can only come from a home 23 years in the making.

I should be packing and sorting the items that need to go into storage, but alas, I’m bouncing around with the excitement of change. It reminds me of the exhilaration I always get when the seasons change, no matter what the seasons. Guess you can say I have the opposite of seasonal affective disorder. Also the reason I can’t picture myself being in San Diego permanently.

Some would say this snowbird picked the wrong months to go back. But this snowbird is also middle-aged and not at all a fan of warm weather as I’m already a fireball these days on my own. I’d much prefer coming home to a warm house than needing to sprint from the AC of my car to the AC of my home. At least in the cold weather, one could merely bundle up to remain outside.*

Anyway, these six months sure did fly by. I turned 50 at the onset, work was making sure it was getting its money’s worth, I replaced shopping and eating with hiking as a hobby, which was more suitable for this economy if I’m being honest. Throw in a Noah Kahan concert, along with a conference on the east coast and a scorching Europe trip, and poof, it’s time to break down my west coast life and take this show back east until spring.

I’m so grateful for my west coast friends who are all so generous with their time. I was able to explore new parts of California with them by my side, holding me up when my anxiety took hold anywhere near a cliff.

I am looking forward to the changing fall leaves, deviled eggs, friends and family on the east coast, all of which I’m also grateful. For this, I am a rich woman.

Anyway, $4 a pound.

(*Feel free to point me to this post when I’m complaining about waiting in single digit weather for the bus on Rt. 3.)