What is Comfortable...

Some mornings when I am getting dressed I have to change two or three times. First my pants feel too tight or too loose, then the collar on my shirt is choking me - it could be long sleeves are confining or short sleeves too revealing - just some mornings nothing feels comfortable - Life is like that isn't it? Somethings are just not comfortable and other things fit like a glove (which is an odd expression because seldom do our gloves actually fit well, our fingers don't each the end or the ends are a long way from our fingertips, or the wrist is not snug enough and cold air can sneak in there) I believe I was in college when my Mommie and I started watching the Rose Bowl Parade. Mommie loved to watch parades. All those years of Starlighters I reckon...When we watched that parade, the weather in Pasadena would be 75 and sunny - looking out our window we may see sun, along with 14 inches of snow and temperatures close to 10. I would tell Mommie; "I am going to live in California. When I finish college I am going to California." Even though I imagine the thought of me moving across the country was not a pleasant one, Mommie always said; "Go on and do that. Follow your dreams." When I graduated college Mommie gave me a one way ticket to Los Angeles. (Do you think that meant she didn't want me to come back? Never thought of that until now.) Off I went to California. Lived in California a total of 21 years, though not consecutive. It is true you cannot beat the weather. An occasional earthquake is rattling, (get it rattling - I crack myself up) the traffic is beyond awful, you can swim in the ocean, play golf, and go skiing all in the same day. ( I have not done that, I should add it to my bucket list) Living in Los Angeles, I do love it there. I have wonderful friends, a great family, good work I love doing,..I am blessed. I am comfortable there - I have been a week back here in the North Country, Malone - my home - where I was raised - Do you have a favorite sweater, bathrobe, sweatshirt? Some article(s) of clothing you can put on when you feel sick or tired or cold? Is there a favorite blanket you can wrap yourself in? When the day has wrung you out like the spin cycle on a washing machine, do you cover yourself with an afghan or a quilt? This is Malone. It is my afghan and my quilt. In 1989 I returned from California. Mommie's health was fading and I came home to be with her. Three years Mommie and I spent together. I missed California. The winter here is worse than finger nails on a chalkboard and a root canal occurring simultaneously! They may have been the best three years of my life - that is another story for another day - It is the comfort of Malone which continues to amaze me. I don't spend a lot of time here. A couple of weeks in the summer. This year I am here for a while longer. Yet when I am here I am comfortable. Some people know me - though I spent most of my life trying to go unnoticed. I have friends here whom I have known for 47 years. That is a long time. I have friends here I have known for 5 years. When I walk into St. Joseph Church it becomes that quilt which warms and comforts me. Driving down Main Street, even though so much of it is gone - well, basically all of it is gone - in my mind's eye I am wearing the red and white uniform, marching in the cold, feeling as proud as peacock - it is comfort. Our lives tend to take us many places. Not everyone is meant to stay in their hometown - though your hometown is always your hometown. The comfort of being here - it is peace within my soul - I know winter would change the peace into a growling, angry, cabin fevered lunatic - but right now - the rain, sun, thunder, lightning - the ducks on the pond, the birds in the trees, the ATV rides, shooting a 10-22 rifle(hitting the target with every shot) stopping at the Trailside for a bite to eat and a Mountain Dew (not many places serve Mountain Dew) Up there people call me Sis - they think I am Eileen's sister - isn't that cool; I am here a few weeks a year and I have a nickname; that is comfort. Eileen's Mom stopped up the other morning. She was going to Ft. Covington and asked if I wanted to ride along. I did. We stopped by her house, where she has lived my whole life, sat on the back porch - we chatted while I read the Telegram(which only takes a minute given how few pages it is) How comfortable is that? It's a gift really. Talking with Jill and Patty. Sharing our horror memories of Bishop Smith, laughing, and then admitting we would not have such wonderful memories or been friends for 45 years had we not went to Bishop Smith. We move along through life and we change. This is good - we should change - life moves so fast; we build new rooms and add new members; we get married have children - we nurture our family of choice - we build friendships - we build our careers - this is what we are suppose to do; Mommie often said she would know she had been a good mother if her children could fly - She was a good Mommie, I can fly - and I can come home, sit out in the yard; visit - I can put on this sweatshirt and sweatpants which are Malone - have a nickname; I can do all of this, this is comfortable. Vacation will end. Off to LA I will go - back to reality, work, back to my family and my home; I wish I could be two places at once - Of course if I were in either place all the time it might not have the same sense of comfort - I don't know. I do know I can't decide what to wear today. The sun was out a minute ago, now it is raining - Eileen says if you don't like the weather in the North Country, wait an hour it will change. I guess I can wait an hour before I get dressed - or two hours or four - I am on vacation after all. I truly hope every person has a place of comfort, a sweater, sweatshirt, or blanket of comfort - a friend of comfort - a book of comfort, or maybe music - an activity - perhaps golf or softball - seek your comfort, don't stop until you find it and once you find it don't ever let it go - Geez, I am so blessed! Don't know why God has given me so many blessings but I sure do thank him. ...And you, those who read my ramblings - my family and friends - you know who you are - my blessings, my heart, my comfort - now, could one of you tell me what to wear?