GOING HOME! (Just where is home?)
Home is where the heart beat fondest!
For some people, home is the place or region, where they were born, or where they grew up from a child into an adult, keeping childhood friendships that they have stayed close with all their lives.
For others where the parents have to pick-up and move because of job reassignments (I was an Army Brat, and our family relocated every 3 or so years). So I was always the new kid in school, and friendships where short lived. I promised myself that when and if I married and had children, that they would have a home, one home, for their whole young life until they became young adults.
For others home is where there is work, and it is not a matter of liking where you live, but where you have to live, to keep your job. Others have lost their homes, because of their jobs disappearing. They became dispensable, because of cost cutting in the company, or the company was bought out and their jobs moved out of the country. Leaving them in an area that really is not their home, and they do not know where home is anymore. The other scenario is the husband calls the Northeast United States home, while the wife thinks of Southern California home, and their own family is in Jackson, Tennessee; because that is where they both could find work to support raising their family.
Some people are homeless, because they have no place to call home having lost their jobs and losing their house. Others are homeless, because they cannot afford to leave where they are at, or locate a new job where they would rather be!
But where exactly is home? Thomas Wolfe wrote “You can’t go home again!” about an author who wrote about his home town, and what he wrote angered all the locals that he was sent hate mail.
Thomas Wolfe, also wrote “Looking Homeward Angel”, where the title was from the poem by John Milton, Lycidas.
"Look homeward Angel now, and melt with ruth:
And, O ye Dolphins, waft the hapless youth."
Then there is a song, “Home is where the Heart is.”
I felt I was spinning my wheels
Before too long the road was calling
I packed everything I own
So sure that I was leaving this small town life behind for good
And not a single tear was falling
It took leaving for me to understand
Sometimes your dreams just aren't what life has planned…
…And then I realize there's something mama always knew
Love is what I really left to find.
I have done many things in my life, with no lifelong wish to be doing what I did, but being satisfied with whatever I did, I gave it my best effort. Being there for my wife and children, being responsible for my children’s upbringing and ensuring that they have a roof over their head, food on the table, clothing to wear, and all the other duties and responsibilities of parenthood.
Finally in October of 1997, I found my home. I always loved fishing. When I finally took the leap to try fly fishing, I found something that I had always been missing, but never knowing what it was. Fly Fishing opened my eyes, and heart to something that is larger than life. Fly Fishing is being home, wherever you happen to be, whether you are fly fishing, or only thinking about fly fishing. It is making new friends that you have not met in person, or only at FAOL “Fish-Ins”! A person is blessed in life if they do not have enough fingers to count all their friends in life!
“Fly fishing is has nothing to do with catching fish
It has everything to do with where the fishes are
Just being there to enjoy this brief time spent fly fishing!”
I am now am 62 years old (and still young at heart), I am glad that I found that peace, that I never knew before and still do not truly understand, since I started to fish with a fly rod in my hand. I am happiest when I am near water with a fly rod in my hand. It does not matter if I catch many fish or any fish at all. Whenever I am fly fishing, solo or with friends, I am home!
Home is where the heart beats fondest! ~Parnelli