Feeling nostalgic.

Image above taken from the web.

Well.....my scrapping and writing has slowed down quite a bit over the past year. It's not that I don't enjoy it anymore, and really I don't consider myself to be a good writer at all....in fact I know that my sentence structure or punctuation is not going to pass any English class rules....and I have even been known to start a sentence with BUT (which I realize is not proper, and I do always pause before using it.....but.....I write on my blog like I would speak, casually.) I have to remember this is for me.

It's more just to jot things down as I think about them. My picture taking even slows down this time of year. Not sure why, other than maybe like some others have suggested it is that December is such a photo full month. Not to mention that it is usually cold out in January. lol.

So, back to the writing. I feel like so much has happened over the past year and I've let it slip by. I found a place for some daily journaling prompts. Some I like, some I don't. Some just don't pertain to me at all. Some I stop and think, "Wow. I really do want to remember some of that stuff but don't really think I want to devote an entire scrapbook page to it."

So, this is something that I hope to continue through this new year. When I don't have much else going on to blog about, I may just write down a few things that come to my mind from the list of prompts.

One I chose from this past week was:

Think of the place that you consider to be home, even if you don't live there anymore. Why is that place "home"? What events/people make it home?

This answer may change, in fact as time goes by here, I hope that this will be a different answer. As of now, the place that I still consider "home" is Arizona. Even though I was born in Florida, spent some time in Southern California as a child, and currently live in Kentucky.

I did the most of my growing up in Phoenix, Arizona. My family is still there, I went to school there, met Mike there, got married there, had children there. I lived there for a few decades and had been around to see so many changes.

The cotton and corn fields that I used to ride my horse through are now six lanes of paved road that run through one of the busiest areas of Chandler. I have seen street names change from Indian names to the more politically correct versions, seen local stores come and go, can recognize the smell of a monsoon storm or never take for granted the bit of cool air and the amazing smell of the orange groves in the spring. I understand the good fortune of finding a parking space under a small palo verde tree even if it only gives the illusion of a cooler temperature and often times is a farther walk than finding a close parking spot near the door of a store. - Or driving with pot holders. Or that brief moment when you have been frozen to death in a restaurant with great air conditioning in August and you sit inside your 150 degree car before your a/c starts....and it actually feels GOOD.
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Just the sound of cicadas can make it instantly feel 10 degrees hotter. Burning the bottoms of your feet on the sand at Big Surf. Riding a bike miles to the store. (The hills here aren't conducive to casual bike riding!)
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Never understanding the idea of a 'snow day.' Being able to play outside in 60 degree weather with new toys on Christmas day. A quick getaway to San Diego. Saguaro cactus, in ground pools and real Mexican food.
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The energy of downtown Phoenix during a game, the history of Mill Avenue, the sound of small aircraft and being a part of that sound and seeing the area from the air. A city big enough for U2 to visit many times, multiple Targets and movie theaters, Peter Piper Pizza and anything ending in -ertos. Like Filabertos!
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I love my new home in Kentucky, and as we plant roots here I know that things will change. I can list a thousand things I already love about here. Ironically I did always want to live in Kentucky when I was a horse loving girl. I think it is strange that someday my kids without a second thought will consider this 'home' as they live and learn more about the area, go to school here and grow up here. It is hard for me to shake that in my heart....Arizona is still "home."