There's no place like home

Resslin' Around/Casey Ressler

The moon glistened off her in the dark of the night, revealing that which has become so familiar to me already, and I knew I was home.

That may sound like a good line for a trashy romance novel, but instead, it was simply a drive home from the airport last week - and thankfully, I'm not holding out for a romance novelist job anytime soon.

Coming across the Glenn Highway just after midnight Sunday night, the moon lit up the side of Pioneer Peak. In a way, it was a giant "welcome" mat for us, after spending 18 days in Hawaii. Expecting to come home in total darkness, Pioneer Peak's silhouette, combined with the decent display of the aurora borealis, truly brought us home.

Every winter, my family looks forward to the two weeks in Hawaii - it really is paradise, particularly when it's cold and snowing here. Everything is so lush there — the bright hibiscus flowers, the seemingly nuclear green grass, the dark blue of the ocean - in comparison to the dullness and grayness that is Alaska during February. But it isn't home.

We had no worries in the world - no work, and the most pressing issue of the trip was to get my bald head tan. About the only thing we hurried for was to make Happy Hour at some of South Maui's restaurants, because nobody wants to miss a $1 mai or half-price chicken wings. But still, it isn't home.

Instead of deadlines, our days consisted of braving the cloudless 90-degree days by the pool, or the gentle breezes down by the beach, while it was cold here. But it wasn't home.

Maybe that's why I was so impressed with Pioneer Peak on our way from the airport - it was home. I could spend a lot longer than 18 days in Hawaii, but it would never be home to me. Home isn't a particular location or name on a map, it's a feeling. And for my family, that feeling of "home" is right here.

In a way, you could describe Sunday as perfect. We woke up to light rain that gave us a complete, bright rainbow across the Pacific Ocean in Hawaii, and went to bed with the northern lights dancing across the sky in Alaska.

Casey Ressler (valleylife@frontiersman.com) is the Valley Life editor.