Home ... ;-))

Home sweet home. Nothing beats the comfort of home. But for me, home means more than that. Home means my sanctuary. My solitude. My aloneness with my plants (starting to do gardening with a few potted plants), the PR (permanent resident) neighbour's cats, the pigeons and various other species of birds, the symphony of birds' songs, another neighbour's brood of chickens ... just me and myself.

This is what I miss when I am away from home especially after a couple of weeks. I would substitute coffee for tea. Hot, steaming cup of earl grey tea with a twist of lemon ... just sit at my porch and enjoy the silence of my neighbourhood since it is a working and schooling day. Get a good book and just be with myself. Home may be in a perpetual mess, organised chaos and topsy-turvy but ... it is comfortable and welcoming. It is so unlike me - organised, orderly and disciplined. With a partner who is totally opposites, we compromised and make it home.

Thus, the question arises - loneliness or freedom? I suppose in my case it is not loneliness as I am alone and have been alone most of my married life. Noor goes off to work from 10:00am to 10:00pm. When the boys have gone off to boarding school and then to universities ... I am practically alone for twelve hours daily. Which is a blessing as I can get my work done with ease and contentment.

Hence, to me ... home is freedom. Free of family and social obligations. Commitments. Responsibilities. It is just me and myself .... until Noor comes home ... ;-(0))