Day 28 - { my lake isle of Inisfree }

And I shall have some peace there, for peace comes dropping slow. . . ."
The Lake Isle of Inisfree, William Butler Yeats

We are at my parents' home in rural Arizona.

The boys are pretty much chained to the Foozball table, Ruby is enjoying hanging out with Dad's dachshund Molly (as long as Molly's not going for her jugular), and pretty soon all my siblings except two, and their families, will be here. It's so awesome. Family is the greatest joy.

(all pictures are from last summer)

Just being here in the desert again is bringing me great joy.

I grew up in the outskirts of Tucson, and my heart belongs to the Arizona desert. There is nothing more soothing to me than to be outside in the early morning, hearing the mourning doves coo, and feeling the cool, dry breeze, and seeing the enormous blue sky everywhere I turn.

My parents don't live in Tucson anymore, but I find that same clear open comfort here in the high desert of the White Mountains.

There's not much that ails me that being here can't cure. Or at least help! :)

Early monsoon storms

A huge variety of new and interesting snacks to soothe my ever-cranky tummy :)

Swimming with the boys in a chlorine-saturated pool, with their shrieks echoing off the stucco walls

Long conversations with Mom while she cuts up fruit for breakfast

Sitting on the enormous rock that holds Benjamin's memorial, full of peaceful, thankful thoughts tinged with tears

A warm cat on my belly while I study the scriptures

Helping my dad plant the garden, harvesting rocks and tumbleweeds first

Watching a rainstorm slowly approach from 30 miles away

If you've never been here, it's hard to describe the sheer openness. You can see the horizon in a complete circle. And then there's the intense quiet. At night, the gazillions of stars.

We've only been here a day and a half, but I can feel already the strength beginning to return to me after a difficult couple of months. I am filled with gratitude for the peace I can find here.