Happy St. Patrick's day -- the concept of home

First sighting -- coming home

Acrylic on watercolour paper

10.6 x 13.8 inches

Barbara Muir © 2015

(available)

I love this painting -- done from memory of one of the views that tells us

we're almost "home" at our school house in Nova Scotia.  This idea of 

home is playing around in my mind because of the idea of roots of some

kind.  Having visited this place at least 10 times a year (going back and

forth between Pugwash and Amherst, or Oxford), it is a view embedded

in my brain, and my heart.  Today we celebrated St. Patrick's Day with

our son Sam, and talked a bit about ancestry.  His background is a 

mixture of about 8 nationalities.  And Irish is low on the list.  Our 

Irish ancestors were French. (Read yesterday's blog for details).

So Toronto my home for most of my adult life, Ottawa, my parents'

home for the same period, Pugwash, Nova Scotia,  for the past 20 years

once a year -- are my hometowns.  What I've found curious in recent

years when I've traveled more extensively -- to New York, Florence

and Paris -- is that almost anywhere will feel like home to me after 5 days

if the people are kind and welcoming.  A very happy thought.  And if 
we return to the same neighbourhoods in New York or Paris frequently
enough we might be so lucky as to have people there we can call friends.

It is my dream to travel more this year -- to see the places we visit

every year, and to go farther if possible.  I raise a glass to you and

the people who make your feel at home on St. Patrick's Day.  This 

painting is right because it's green and of the place where I fell in 
love with that colour in paintings. We had a touch of green champagne, 
and after our festive lunch Steven and I headed out to our favourite park 
near Toronto and fed the ducks, geese and the swans.  It was a super 
happy day.

Have a feeling at home day.