Epilogue to our sixth winter at sea

We've been home exactly 48 hours. 

The laundry is done, the clothes put away. I've made a first pass through the mail, tossed some and sorted the rest into piles. We tackled the first grocery shopping on Sunday night (not the best time, I found out, as the aisles were packed while the shelves were empty), and I've made the first pot of soup (beef vegetable).  Surprisingly, we are not shell shocked. I think that's due to the fact that we were gone only 62 days, and the weather has been decent since we arrived home. (I think shell shockiness sets in after three months away.) Whatever the reason, I am grateful for the sense of calm we are experiencing.

I'm grateful for other things too:

- Silence.  We were sitting in the family room yesterday afternoon, separately working on our to-do lists for this week when G said "Listen", and I knew immediately what he meant. There was no music, no voices, no ship's sounds, no announcements...only the sound of the refrigerator running.  Heaven!

- Quality sleep. At home sleep beats even the best travel sleep every time. And the house doesn't shimmy and shake all night, either. 

- My shower. It's not large by today's standards, but it's surrounded by glass on two sides, and offers a view of blue sky and tree tops...and a shelf for leg shaving. It's quite a change from a small shower behind a shower curtain in a small bathroom in a small inside cabin. 

But mostly I'm grateful for the safe winter we had, and the opportunity to spend another winter (and fall and even part of summer) at sea. We had some amazing adventures, going places that a year ago I would never have dreamed we'd visit. And that makes me wonder where we'll end up next year. 

We currently have four different plans for next winter, and where we'll go is dependent on so many things- our health, the stock market, the world political situation- that we probably won't know with certainty where we'll be until mid-summer or so. One option, of course, is to return to the Caribbean- easy and familiar and our cheapest option. Other options would take us much further from home, and would be more expensive and challenging, taking us out of our comfort zone once again. 

Regardless of where we go, we are still of one mind: we will go. And I will be right here, documenting the ups and downs of life at sea. 

And, finally, at this season's end, I thank my husband, the best life partner in the world, for wanting to travel ('cause not all spouses want to), for funding our travel (those 27 years of 6am PT have finally paid off), for putting up with me blogging (he and his yellow shirts have become fairly recognizable) and for putting up with me, period, for months at a time in a 160 sq.ft. inside cabin. As I tell him every day of every cruise, "I love you. I appreciate you. Thank you for making today possible."

Source:  quotesgram.com

Life. Is. Good.