Bloggerlife.blog

10/01/2025

Today’s blog

Lynn Murphy Mark

Home, sweet home

2WUNDA and I made the 500 mile trek home yesterday. This time there were more trucks trying to pass each other, slowing the rest of us down. I appreciate how trucks and their drivers contribute to our way of life – I passed Amazon, Walmart, and the ubiquitous JB Hunt trucks. As I passed the huge rigs I wondered what it must be like to have that much bulk and heft to control on a highway. 

I’m happy to say that, after discovering that I do indeed have cruise control, the drive of so many  miles was a lot easier. Sheila and I are still laughing at my previous belief that I didn’t have cruise control because I could not find what I thought would be a knob somewhere in the steering wheel area. That will be a part of our jokes for a long time. 

I listened to several podcasts on the way. I heard Elizabeth Gilbert talk about her life-changing relationship with a woman who started as a friend and ended as a lover. It’s a sad story because by the time they fell in love, Raya was diagnosed with terminal cancer. The podcast is really about the power of codependency, and how Elizabeth had to acknowledge that she is a card-carrying member of that popular club. 

I listened to a couple of Overeaters Anonymous offerings, glad to hear the wise and reassuring words saying that it is possible to recover from the compulsion to eat inappropriately. There were a lot of references to the physical, emotional, and spiritual toll that this addictive behavior carries with it. As I listened, I felt a wave of gratitude wash over me because I am working hard on my recovery from this disease. I can report that my food intake in the Land of Enchantment and Excellent Food was reasonable. There is no longer a need to eat twelve of anything, when one will do nicely…

On this trip I broke one of my music rules. Ordinarily I don’t fire up Handel’s Messiah until around Thanksgiving time. However, being on the road for hours at a time seemed like perfect time to listen and sing along to the entire oratorio – several times. There’s something freeing about singing while driving. Then I went from the sublime to the slightly ridiculous by putting my Lyle Lovett collection on the airwaves. I love Lyle Lovett because he is so irreverent and his words are often very funny or very sad. He is easy to harmonize to, another reason why I love this playlist.

I talked to Jan a couple of times. She has started making arrangements for a trip to London in February – very exciting. She loves London and has wanted to get back there for as long as I’ve known her. The occasion is a chance to attend a play in which her idol, Cynthia Erivo, plays multiple roles in a solo appearance of Bram Stoker’s Dracula. She will demonstrate her talents as she plays all 23 characters. Jan is hoping we get a chance to go back stage and meet this powerhouse singer, actress, producer and director. We already have tickets to the performance. Jan knows where to stay in London. Our biggest challenge will be finding an affordable airfare in business class. I remind myself that this is one of the reasons I still work – the ability to travel to interesting places and enjoy life.

The closer I got to home the more I wanted just to pull into the garage, schlep my stuff upstairs, and greet my girls. At first, Mollie Dog was a little skittish about approaching me and had to give me some long sniffs to remember who I am. Since I spent two weeks in a household with two dogs I’m pretty sure she was a little offended. Jan had just started a nap so I crawled in bed and slept my road weariness away. 

I had intended to go to work today, but I just couldn’t pull it off. This is partly because I was up until after 11 PM watching my women’s professional basketball team play the match game. The Indiana Fever team was never expected to get to game 5 of the WNBA semi-finals. But they are a team full of grit and persistence despite a rash of injuries to their star players. The women who played last night would not give up, taking the game into overtime. They lost in overtime but they have nothing to be ashamed of. They will be a force to contend with next season when everyone is healthy again.

While I will always cherish Santa Fe and have already started planning for next September, it is so satisfying to be home. Life Is Good.