Tag Archives: Home Bases

The Road to Diamond, Day 352: Choosing Home

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Posted by on in Assistance, collaborating, Community, Family, Inspiration, Personal Values, service, Social, Spiritual, Striving, Travel

November 14, 2025- A young friend asked me what the best strategy is for deciding where to live. There are three main factors behind my own choices: Family, good of the community and peace of mind. In 2011, I had to decide where I would live next, as my house was up for sale, and purchasing another one would have been foolhardy. A family home was available, in Prescott, I could serve the community in several ways and it is a very pleasant place in which to live. That made choosing this Home Base very easy.

Being a Sagitarrian, I find wanderlust is a constant refrain, but I am also mindful that there is value in establishing ties to community; thus, the idea of Home Base. I could have stayed with Prescott as Home Base I for several more years. The coming birth of my first grandchild, however, brings on a feeling far stronger than wanderlust, or the desire to be close to someone I also love dearly. So, Home Base I will shift to Plano, Texas, sometime in the middle or latter part of next month. There will always be other Home Bases: HB II, unless I hear differently from my beloved there, is Metro Manila ( or wherever she is); HB III, Prescott; HB IV, Nynashamn, Sweden; HB V, Dinetah/Hopi; HB VI, Exton/Oley, Pennsylvania; HB VII, Cape Breton, Nova Scotia; HB VIII, Jeju, Korea; HB IX, northeast Scotland.

I hear you saying, why so many? One can only live in one place at a time and “serve only one master.” I also understand that there are those who turn away from someone who leaves their area. Some, in a few of the places mentioned, already have made their displeasure with me quite clear. I am sorry for any hurt you might feel, but know that family is always a priority for me-as it is for some of those who have expressed annoyance. The shoe fits equally well on both pairs of feet. I will be present for my grandchild as long as needed, especially once parents are both back at work. You will be fine and know that I don’t care for you any less than I ever have.

In Prescott, I (initially) served family, have done right by the community and found peace of mind. The same thing is true of several of the other Home Bases. It will be true of Plano.

The Road to Diamond, Day 173: Home Lands

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Posted by on in Assistance, collaborating, Community, Family, impediments, Inspiration, Matters of Faith, Personal Values, Social, Spiritual, Striving

May 20, 2025- Coming down the mountain from Strawberry Junction to Camp Verde, my main concern was putting my energy into the safety of the large load of logs being hauled in front of me, and staying in the slow line, regardless of my wanting to get back to Prescott. The truck was fine, even when an antsy driver behind us pulled his pick-up and drove around the line, crossing double yellow lines, when he spotted a minute or two. There is one in every crowd.

I arrived back at Home Base I around 3 p.m., picked up my mail and sorted out the junk from magazines and legitimate bills that still come through snail mail. The VA stuff is always among the latter. I also had to deal with a broken blind mount, for which duct-taping the blinds to the side window will allow privacy for a day or so, until I can get a new set of mounts. (I rarely have opened said blinds, in eleven years, so it must have been one of the workmen who are installing my apartment’s AC unit, who messed with the blinds.)

Home Base I is only one of my Home Lands, as readers have no doubt figured out, over the years. It is where those who believe in me the most happen to be, and I would say that this confidence in my skill sets comes from my having engaged in community activities here. My little family and others would feel the same, if I were to spend more time with them. For now, though, I am grateful for what time I do have in Home Bases II (Grapevine), III (North Shore), IV (Southeast Pennsylvania) and V( Makati). I know some of you will say “What about our area?” I appreciate all the love I get from friends, wherever I go.

What makes a place home, though, is not the mutual love and support that I get, as well as give. It is a deeper feeling, that is often hard to put into words. There is likely to be a time, in the not-too-distant future, when the Home Bases will get shifted around a bit. One scenario has me living closer to my son and daughter-in-law. Another has me in Metro Manila, or a place fairly close to it. Those situations will work themselves out, with Divine Energy in play, much as so many issues and problems have gotten resolved, especially since 2014.

For now, though, I need to give my trusty steed a wash, interior cleaning and routine maintenance, before week’s end. Tomorrow is my dearest’s birthday. I am glad to have been able to get gift and proper greetings sent. The Baha’i Spiritual Assembly and Red Cross need some time tomorrow, as well. So, too, does Bellemont, on Saturday, for a fire wise clean-up. There will be time to relax and ruminate on Sunday and Monday, being Memorial Day weekend.

Eastbound and Back, Day 30: Differences in Significance

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Posted by on in Assistance, collaborating, Community, impediments, Inner Struggles, Personal Values, Social, Spiritual, Striving, Travel

May 28, 2024, Harrisonburg, VA- There are always a few dozen reasons why any given thing can happen. It struck me as odd, that the driver of the dark grey sedan followed me, a bit too closely, from the exit on I-81, to Motel 6, and kept on driving when I pulled up to the office. It was not anything that would have fed suspicion, or paranoia. He actually already had a room in back and apparently just was in a hurry to get back there.

A friend and I had a conversation, this morning, about someone known to both of us, who makes everything about self. It could be something that involves the person directly, or is only tangential to the soul’s life, but this individual is a past master at being front and center.

I, myself, try not to be. Recently, I have conducted a pair of transactions, on behalf of someone about whom I care deeply. These are a bit more complicated than I had expected, so my messaging to the other person has been more frequent than either of us might normally prefer. I was finally able to get the companies involved to correctly address the products being sent, but it made for a nerve-wracking day, at least for me and for a third party who is receiving the items on the other end. Fortunately, not much money was involved; it was just time and energy that were sapped.

I stopped here, in Harrisonburg, because it has been one of those days, when I just could not go any further. H’burg’s significance to me is as a safe haven. I can totally rest here, and not have to concern myself with anyone’s expectations. That started years ago, when a young lady named Jasmin had me sit in the most comfortable chair in her cafe, because it looked at that point like I could go no further. Jas, and The Artful Dodger, are in H’burg’s past now, but the ambiance of the place is still salubrious. Mishawaka and Ocean Beach are in that same vein.

There are differences in the roles that many places of significance play in my life. Prescott and Grapevine are full-on homes, with all the various roles played by a Home base. Exton, the North Shore and Spring Hill are places to connect with family, yet mostly in neutral settings, for various reasons. Grand Canyon, Bisbee, Santa Fe,Victoria, Cape Breton, and now Corner Brook are places to relax somewhat and connect with spiritual kin. Carson City, Oley, Boothbay Harbor and Taos are even more in that category. The jury is still out on the Philippines, but the next few weeks will indicate what significance that country, and some of its people, are to have in my life.

Mostly, though, is what significance I have in my own life and in those of the people I adore. Much depends on what is going on in our respective lives, so I have reached the point where whatever interaction I have with treasured people is golden.

Having had a quiet afternoon and evening to myself, I no longer feel like a stuck pig.