How wonderful to come home to my garden in full bloom! Ah, but the flowers are almost overwhelming…so much color, so much growth. I am greeted by hummingbirds. They hover above and in front of me, as if to ask where have you been? I visit the papavers, the beds of alstroemeria, the tender Magnolia stellata, recently planted and recovering well from a fungus. 

Why, I wonder, why travel when all this awaits at home? A great question. Penelope knew the travails of being left at home, but Odysseus undoubtedly wearied of the long years away.

But perhaps the answer is the glory of the homecoming. Until one travels, one never knows how much one misses home, has taken home for granted, longs for it, and how grand is the return to the garden in full bloom. Perhaps the glory of the homecoming is well worth the weariness of the long road.