Home Again….

I packed up my things and left Morro Bay yesterday morning. I decided to go visit San Luis Obispo before heading home. I haven’t been there in years, and I haven’t visited the Mission there since I was a child.

Driving south on Highway 1, I said good bye to Morro Bay and my parents. I promised that I would return as soon as I can, and I will visit with them again soon. Maybe it is only walking on the beach and thinking about them and talking to them in spirit, but to me, it is a visit nonetheless.

As I left the coast, the clouds and fog disappeared. It was a beautiful, sunny day in San Luis Obispo. Besides being the location of one of California’s Missions, San Luis Obispo de Tolosa, it is also home to California Polytechnic University, or Cal Poly, as it is known.

I don’t remember it being so hard to find parking in SLO before but, I did manage to find both a fairly shady spot AND enough change to allow me to explore for a few hours. Camera in hand, I headed for Monterey Street and the Mission.

It is a beautiful place.

I spent about an hour looking at the Mission and the grounds and taking pictures. The serenity of the place is palpable, broken only by the voices of a group of children from a nearby YMCA Day Camp. They were happily rolling down a hill, and running around on the grass, getting rid of some built-up energy after touring the Mission.

Then I walked around downtown San Luis Obispo, and took pictures of some of the interesting architecture. After another hour had passed, I headed back to the car and pointed it in the direction of home.

By the time I got to Paso Robles, I could feel the heat. Exiting US 101 and heading east on State Route 46, the landscape changed from verdant and growing to dry and brown. Miles and miles of two-lane highway, bordered by dry and brown. At least the traffic was not as frenzied as it had been on the trip over to the coast, last week.

As I approached familiar places, I found myself thinking about my parents again, and how much I miss them. I feel their presence when I am at the beach, and now, as I headed back into the central valley, I felt like I was losing touch with them again.

By the time I reached the outskirts of Podunk, the CD was playing Celine Dion’s version of “My Heart Will Go On” and the tears were streaming down my face. I realized that, no matter where I go, or what I do, my parents are with me.

In fact all the people I love, the people who are special to me, are always with me. Passed, or still living, close by or far away, they are all with me. They are in my heart, always and forever. And, as I pulled into the driveway, I realized how lucky I am.

My heart is home again….

Cali