back in the saddle again

Everyone is back where they should be, a whirlwind trip south to fetch M, a late night airport pickup for J, I am suddenly chauffeur and mother, the quiet swirls past me like patchouli incense, I reach for it and it disappears.

I somehow expected it to be more profound. The longest I've been apart from my child, my partner, the longest we three have been in separate places, Truth be told I reveled in the alone, the return of the old. There were moments certainly, a longing so piercing it wounded but it was fleeting and in it's place a contentedness I've missed, the one that comes with only having to be concerned with oneself.

So it goes I suppose, and the reunion yesterday with my child was perfection and the plane trip home was noteworthy, she's a champion flyer, completely fearless and unabashed in her yelling for the Peanut Guy over and over much to his probable dismay. Tonight with J was profound in it's own right, a newness and a recognition, now I have four year old legs wrapped around my waist and strong arms around my shoulders and we bend together again like three trees attached to the same star, the light glows steadily shining our way ahead.