Hello there, friend!
I’ve missed you! I was busy looking for the Loch Ness monster and some leprechauns in the last couple of weeks, but now I’m good ol’ home sweet home!
I might be taking you on a circuitous path this morning, so if you need to, take some Dramamine and read this in 30 minutes. I’ll blame it on my foggy brain due to jet lag. (How long can I use that excuse? A few days? A week? The rest of my life?)
This story begins in the year 1973. I was 13. My music teacher at school, Mrs. Hartwig, had a contest in our class and for the class one grade lower. She played Beethoven’s 5th Symphony for us, and we were to count the number of times we heard the famous theme: Ba-ba-ba-baaaaaaam! (I hope you know what I’m talking about.) Guess who won for my grade! Me! I don’t remember the correct total, it was in the hundreds, but I got within two. I got to choose three friends, and the winner of the other class chose three friends, and Mrs. Hartwig paid for the eight of us to go to Frankie’s Pizza in the next town for a crazy night of pizza and revelry.
Some kids win contests for athletic prowess. Some for their super intelligence. I won a contest for counting the “ba-ba-ba-baaaaaaams” in Beethoven’s 5th Symphony. It takes all kinds to make the world go ’round.
This pizza extravaganza was one of the first times I was out with “just kids,” and it felt great! We were just eight young teens out on the town. Adults? No way! Who needs ’em? Well, we did when we needed a ride home.
Anyway, a song played on the jukebox over and over that night. It was called “Ramblin’ Man” by the Allman Brothers. It was obviously someone’s favorite song. Now, if I hear that song, I’m taken right back to Frankie’s Pizza and Beethoven’s 5th Symphony.
Why in the world am I talking about all of this? Well, after being gone for a couple of weeks and having missed home so much while I was gone, I have concluded that unlike Dickey Betts (the writer of Ramblin’ Man, who coincidentally is from West Palm Beach, Florida!) I am not a Ramblin’ Woman. Oh, I may ramble on a bit when I write, as I seem to be doing at this very minute, but as far as wanting to roam around the world, I’d rather watch the YouTube video from my couch—which leads me to this question:
Am I a total bore?
I mean, shouldn’t I want to go out and see the world? And when I do go out and see the world, it is a really cool place. I’ve seen some fantastic sights in the past couple of months, and believe me, I’m grateful to have seen them. But, man, there’s nothing like seeing my own house at the end of a trip. My own coffee pot. My own bed. My own messy desk.
It got me thinking about how I admire turtles for carrying their homes on their backs. How convenient! And if the world gets too “peopley,” what do they do? Pull their head in, and that’s that! Lucky ducks—ah, turtles!
And then there’s the armadillo—same deal. A few of God’s creatures (besides myself) choose to hide out in their homes: the snail, the hermit crab, and the moray eel. Besides preferring to stay close to home, these critters have something else in common: they are all quite unattractive. Oh great, I couldn’t self-identify with something more beautiful like a leopard or a peacock?
So why am I telling you all this? Where’s the encouragement in this cockamamie, round-about story? Just to say, as my dad used to say, “It takes all kinds to make the world go ’round.” Big-time travelers, stay-at-homers. Talk-your-arm-off extroverts, quiet introverts. Sporty athletes, winners of Beethoven contests. It reminds me of another song:
“All things bright and beautiful, All creatures great and small
All things wise and wonderful, ‘Twas God that made them all.”
Wherever your niche may be, be it in some exotic faraway land or on your own couch at home, I hope you find peace and contentment there— and in just being you.
Where is your niche? Tell me about it! I’d love to hear it!
Written with love – – – Patti XOXO💗
