The idea of home.................makes me smile

The other day, I wanted to buy something and I didn't have enough money with me.   The shopkeeper spoke spanish, of course, and indicated that she knew me and I could take what I needed and bring the money back later.   I am ever so conscious of the locals and their life being so very much harder than mine that I declined.   Maybe it wouldn't have been so bad to show her I could be trusted.   It did get me to thinking about this life I've carved out here and what makes a place a home.

Margarita pouring coconut water out of a .....coconut.

I will be leaving in a matter of days for an adventure unlike one I've ever had before.   In one week I'll be in Texas awaiting a plane to take me to Alaska where I will be seeing my daughter, Robbin, for the first time since I watched a bus diminish in the distance on February 10th when she left me for Peru and a set of adventures of her own.

Robbin.  The last time I saw her.

After two weeks in Alaska and a weekend in NYC, proving myself to be a very self-indulgent individual, I will be taking another plane to Japan where I will be seeing my son, Zach, for the first time in a little over a year.  A lot of people here want to know why I want to go to Japan.  My heart is there.  Home is many things but mostly it is where love is.

Zach doesn't like his picture posted so I'm being sneaky.
1978 with his daddy.

My brother.  My hero.   He is in Texas and has done so much for me I can't imagine how I could ever repay him.   He made a lot of things work with my move.   I don't have the same ethics as he does.   No one does.

Fred in 1968

There are just some people who are unforgettable.  Like Carlos.   I've adopted him.  Just like everybody else in town.   I haven't a clue how old he is.   He doesn't ask me so I don't ask him.

This was taken 25 pounds ago.  But it's the best picture I have of this

dear sweet man.  He always wants a hug and always has to pet 

my dogs.  I couldn't let ego keep me from showing him off.

I've met so many new friends!!  Far too many to picture here.   When you are far away from relatives and home, new friends become family.

Alex.   I'd like to hate her because she is so beautiful.
Look at her eyes.   Impossible not to love.

If you are doing it right, you don't just make friends with people who look, act and talk like you do.   You open your heart to the people who have lived here all their lives.   You will be enriched by doing so.

This cab driver always honks at me and never EVER refuses to take my
dogs in the cab.  Plus he knows where I live.

I'll quote my friend Marycharles who, when I express my love for this place, said "That shows how much you have made Vilcabamba your own---and also how much the people there have made you their own." Home is not a building.  It is not a state.  It is not even a country.  It is where your heart is.  That means my heart is in Japan.   It is in Alaska.  It is in Texas.  And it is here with my new chosen family.  Hearts don't divide.  They multiply.  

I'm going to miss these guys.