A Year of Thanks

Wow, one year ago today (let's pretend it's still Wednesday, since I'm still up) we pulled into Maryland. It was darker than anything I could recall, and we felt incredibly small. We had no home to pull into. We knew not a soul, let alone anyone who might be up at three in the morning if we had. I pulled onto 301, a dark road with no lights or sidewalks, nothing in sight but the shadowy forms of trees overhead, and whispered to Zorak, "How do I get to the main road?"

"This is the main road. One of 'em, anyway. Keep going south." He fell back asleep.

I drove on, down to Route 5, and made my way to Route 235. We saw darkened buildings and rain, a lot of rain. For those of you not familiar with St. Mary's County, it's a small, mostly rural area with no big cities, and only one incorporated town. There are few main roads- Rt. 5 and Rt. 235 run North/South; Hermanville, Great Mills, Chancellor's Run, and Hollywood Rd. cut across to join them. These are pretty much all of it. It doesn't sound like much, and really it's all quite easy to navigate- in the light of day, after a few weeks to acclimate yourself to using new navigational techniques. When you're used to navigating by mountains and rivers, learning to recalibrate in the swamps is a bit intimidating. 235 is good sized, and cars move up and down it like 737's ready for take-off. It's no place for timidity, so I drove, looking for something familiar.

We pulled into the Denny's parking lot. Familiar ground at last. Denny's is the same everywhere. It doesn't matter that it's not great: they have bottomless coffee, locals who know which hotels to avoid, and a glimpse of the local denizens on neutral ground. And they're Always Open. I love Denny's.

Those who are familiar with the area are laughing at me right now, because the only Denny's around here isn't in St. Mary's County at all. It's almost an hour north of here, in Charles County. Still, I felt my knees regain their strength as I threw the Suburban into Park and woke the boys. "Wake up, boys. We're here. We're in Maryland." Sleepy, happy boys. Sleepy, anxious Mommy and Zorak. Hot coffee, scrambled eggs. We watched the sun rise from our booth and tried to gain our bearings.

For months afterword, John was convinced that Denny's was Maryland.

The next day was Thanksgiving. We spent it at Solomon's Island, watching birds and enjoying the rush of the Big-Scary-River. We put several hundred miles on the Suburban over the next three days, driving up and down the county trying to find a rental. Most of that time I think we were lost. We found this place and moved in Saturday. Home.

Eventually our furniture arrived. We found Jerry's Chinese food and figured out where the grocery stores are located. We met many folks and made a few good friends. Zorak started his first day at work and is soon to celebrate his first year there: a bonafide engineer. He hasn't taken a mid-term in over a year and that, he says, is one of his highlights of the year.

The boys have learned to swim, and learned more about aquatic life than I care to relate. James discovered he loves Maryland Crabs. John fell in love with trips to the beach for swimming and teriyaki on a stick. Osprey, Cobra, and flight-path have become part and parcel of our vocabulary this year.

James turned five with a great surprise party. John turned four and had a great bbq with friends. Jacob left his babyhood behind, learning to walk, talk, and climb.

It's very expensive here, and between the taxes and other regulations we haven't made the progress we'd hoped to make in financial realms. In some ways we still feel very foreign and out of place. We haven't been able to enjoy many of the things we cherish in life, and that has been difficult to absorb. We haven't made peace with humidity or with the governmental oversight.

Still, this year has been very blessed. We are a family. We are together. We have a good home and valued friendships. We have the joys of homeschooling as a family, and the joys of life when you choose to live it. We are fortunate to have come this far, and we look forward to the future with eager minds and filled hearts.

What will this next year bring? Surely birthdays and other causes for celebrations. Possibly sorrows and losses. Hope. Wonder. Amazement. Love. Yeah, a lot to be thankful for there.

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!
Kiss those babies.
~Dy