Refuge Haiku

protected and sound

my sanctuary, my home 

private safe haven

Inspired by the prompt at

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Home Haiku

my sanctuary

my refuge and hide away

where my heart resides

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Home Sweet Home

      NaBloPoMo asks:

  If I could live anywhere, where would it be? 

      Although there are lots of places I would love to visit, there is no sure guarantee I would really want to live there.  When I was a teenager, all I wanted to do was move to Nashville, Tennessee and start my life.  I graduated from high school and the following August, I moved to Nashville and became a resident in one of the dorms at Belmont University.  Once I got there, I realized a very important truth about myself.  While I loved visiting Nashville, if my folks weren’t there I really didn’t want to be there either.

 
 

       They say home is where your heart is, and all those years ago I realized that was the case with me.  As long as I have my husband, kids, and pets I could live anywhere.  Without my little family, it wouldn’t matter how beautiful the scenery, it just would never be home.

 

       I could say I would love to live in a sprawling castle in Scotland or in the picturesque countryside that surrounds London, but would I be happy?  I could say that I would give anything to live by the ocean, but after seeing the destruction of the recent hurricane, would I really want to live with that possible threat hanging in the air ?  I may discover that while it was a nice place to visit, I wouldn’t really want to live there.  Since I have a snowball’s chance in hell of living anywhere else besides where I am right now, I will be content right where I am at. 

      After all there is no place like home until next time when I give you another glimpse into the life of a trucker’s wife.

Beth's Sabbatical

The following is a fictional story I wrote for the GBE writing prompt.  We were asked to spin a tale about what Beth is really doing on her month's sabbatical.  I hope you enjoy my spin on the topic.

     With a sigh Beth logged off and shut down her computer.  She smiled as she carefully shut her laptop and placed it inside it's bag.  Her computer was the last thing she needed to pack.  Her husband gently placed his hand on her shoulder.  She looked up into his eyes at his touch.  "Are you ready?" he asked.  Beth smiled, nodded, and grabbed the bag holding her computer and followed her husband out of the empty house to her new life.  Yes, she was ready.  It’s now or never!  She had told next to no one her plans.  She only hinted she was going on a road trip with no particular destination in mind.   Several phone calls, emails, another road trip a while back, and everything had fallen in place as if it all was meant to be.  It was her fate and she was ready to grasp it with both hands.

     She had dreamed of this day coming, saved for it, and made countless plans never dreaming that it would really come.  She climbed into her car while her husband got into the U Haul and followed him out of the neighborhood she had spent the better share of her married life onto the ramp to the interstate that would lead to a new life, not just any new life, but her new life.  With a lump in her throat, Beth cranked the radio and sang along to all the tunes that came across the airways she knew.  She was happy beyond comprehension.

     After hours of travel the exit that led to her future beckoned.  She followed the U Haul driven by her husband off the exit, through the picturesque small town dotted with small, home town shops, a grocery, a post office, an old fashioned church complete with stained glass, steeple, and bells that rang at various times of the day and on special occasions, out of town into the country.  The sun was shining brightly in the sky and in Beth's heart.  She passed farm house after farm house, pastures, and barns.  Finally her husband eased the U Haul into a long driveway that winded and curved away from the road.  Beth followed marveling at the trees that provided a magical archway to drive under and the wild flowers that grew in reckless abandon on both sides.  Another turn revealed a bridge that crossed over a rambling brook and just beyond the piece of résistance, Beth's new home...the farm she had always dreamed of owning.

     She brought her car to a stop behind the U Haul and jumped out in eager anticipation to join her husband to gaze at their new piece of paradise on earth.  The afternoon sun glistened in the windows.  A wrap around porch graced the front of the house where Beth could imagine lining hanging baskets of blossoming flowers.  She and her husband would sit there in rockers waiting for her children and precious grandchildren to arrive for visits.  Here they would watch the sunset in the evenings and make the best memories having those wonderful talks and giggles only couples who have been married many years can enjoy.  At this front door she would welcome her children with open arms when they visited.

     She had taken a month away from the internet to settle into her new home and life.  A month to make this house into a home, unpack, plant flowers, and maybe acquire some cows and chickens to fill the big red barn out back and amuse the grandchildren.  She looked forward to getting her hands on those cow udders and squeezing until she heard the pitter patter of milk in her bucket.  She could hardly wait to gather eggs and feed the chickens she would have.  Tonight she would rest, but tomorrow the fun would begin.  She would begin unpacking, making this house into a home, and enjoying the first day of the rest of her life.  She imagined being able to recharge and rejuvenate from just about anything in this peaceful place.  Once her family joined her here in this remote paradise, her dream would be complete.

       That night Beth and her husband settled on the front porch on matching rockers and watched their first sunset and counted the stars that followed.  Unlike the big city they had come from, there were no traffic sounds or sirens, no noise save for the crickets, the breeze, the gurgling of the nearby brook and the creek of their rocking chairs as they rocked on the front porch.   Beth imagined the stories she could tell when the month was up and Word Nerd would speak to all her readers and online friends once again.  Wouldn't they be surprised to discover she was living her dream? In this place she would live out the rest of her days, celebrate holidays and everything that led her to this point.   Sometimes you just got to go after what you want in life. You can’t put it off one minute longer.  Another item crossed off the ole bucket list until next time when I give you another glimpse into the life of a trucker's wife.

H is for Home and Holidays

      Being a trucker’s wife, I have become accustomed to my husband not being at home.  It is part of life.  It doesn’t mean that after a while I don’t yearn for his presence, because I do.  There isn’t a day that goes by that I don’t miss him.  I accept the fact he can’t be home and make money. 


       

       This last weekend was different.  It was a holiday, and there isn’t a holiday that goes by that he and I both don’t long for him to be home.  He isn’t always home for holidays.  I don’t like it, but it is what it is.  I can accept that he is gone most of the time because he has to be.  It is always a hard pill to swallow when he spends a holiday on the road.  We have small children, and lets face it, as hard as I try I will never be their Daddy.  Holidays don’t seem complete without him.

       Over the years there have been a good many holidays he has missed.  We have kept almost constant contact by cell phone, talking and sending pictures back and forth.  It is not the same.  He has no control over it.  The company he works for has stuff that needs delivered in the opposite direction, and someone has to take it.  I get that.  We need the money.  I get that too.  

        Lately my husband has been in a cycle of going out 3 weeks and coming home for 4 days, meaning he only sees home roughly 55 days a year including his vacation.   That isn’t a whole lot.  His scheduled time to be off is next weekend so I didn’t expect him to be home for Easter.  I steeled my resolve and planned an Easter for our kids filled with Je$u$, bunny baskets, egg hunts, and a baked ham for dinner.

        When Friday rolled around we discovered that he would be passing through for a delivery on Monday.  He could come home for Easter!!  He wouldn’t be here long and he would have to leave Easter morning to make his appointment on time, but he would be coming home!!  He arrived Friday night in time for supper and from that moment on the clock was ticking.  It was a whirlwind and I feel like I have jet lag, but we managed to celebrate Easter on Saturday.  The Easter bunny came on Saturday night to my kids delight.  Instead of preparing the ham I had bought, my husband insisted on barbequing chicken.  When you are a trucker’s wife, you learn to roll with it.  When he left at the butt crack of dawn Easter morning, I felt fulfilled, happy, and alive.  

        Couples that see each other every single night may never see how precious time spent together really is.  Every homecoming is a cause for celebration.  The kids and I are always out by the road to wave that big International into driveway.  I always fling open the truck door as soon as he gets stopped and the kids always climb into the truck in their eagerness to see him and be near him.  Holidays are always more spectacular when he is home.  Even after he left Easter morning, the glow of happiness still hung in the air and made each of our steps a little lighter and our smiles a little more exuberant.  Holidays just aren’t the same without him, and for him there just is no place like home for the holidays until next time when I give you another glimpse into the life of a trucker’s wife.

Surprise!!! I’m Home!

    When you are a trucker’s wife you learn to live with the fact that your husband will be absent for most holidays and special occasions.   At most trucking companies the only holiday you can bet money that your husband will definitely be spending at home is Christmas.  When my husband left home after a week’s reprieve with me and the kids, I didn’t plan on seeing the whites of his baby blue eyes until the first week of March.  The kids and I were resigned to another Valentine’s Day spent apart.  He had bought me a chocolate rose and my favorite conversation hearts before he left, so it was all good.  Our valentines for him would have to wait till he ever came back home.

     It was Valentines Day night.   The kids and I had eaten dinner and were settled on the couch watching “The Biggest Loser” on television.  If it is Tuesday, you can pretty well bet money that is where you will find me. I can’t miss that or “Parenthood”.  It is the only night I am religious about watching TV.  Don’t get me wrong, I don’t miss “The Voice” on Monday night either if I can help it.  The rest of the nights I pretty much do my own thing: read, write, clean, or play games with the kids.  It didn’t really surprise me when my phone rang during the “Biggest Loser” and the caller ID announced my husband was on the phone.  He often calls this time of night to check in, talk with kids about how their day went at school, and to see if I am doing alright.

      He surprised me and told me he needed Mapquest and wanted me to look up how many hours away from home he was.  I typed in destination A to B and was shocked to realize he was only a little over an hour away!!  I thought he was out east somewhere!!!  I certainly didn‘t think he was anywhere near home!  “Move the pickup truck over, I am coming home!!”  Sphincter says what?  The dinner dishes weren’t done, the kids stuff was littered all over the living room, and he was coming home???  Usually I have plenty of warning before he comes home, but at practically bedtime I was in no frame of mind to do a thorough cleaning shakedown on the entire house.  At this late stage in the day, Mr. Neat and Tidy would just have to live with how the house looked because even if I had the energy to pull myself off the couch, the desire to clean was not there.  Let the chips fall where they may!  He isn’t company after all, he lives here too!

      At almost 11 PM he backed his semi into the driveway.  He came to the door with a big grin proclaiming “Surprise, Happy Valentines Day!”  It was a BIG surprise, and despite the fact I had to fix him something to eat at almost midnight, I felt blessed that we could be together for Valentine’s Day.  He got to see all the kids Valentines they had received from their friends at their class parties.  He got to see their school work.  Not only did he get a full tummy and a hot shower, he also got the roll in the hay he was looking for.  Every now and then one of life’s little surprises comes along and happens to not be bad news for a change.  It doesn't happen often, but when it does you realize how good life can be until next time when I give you another glimpse into the life of a trucker’s wife.