My vacation view from my chaise lounge in Maui.

Of course, first there was getting home which involved leaving the condo at 2:30 pm HST Saturday and finally arriving home at 10:30 am CDT Sunday. My mother used to refuse to do the overnight flight from Honolulu as she said she could never sleep. It must be like forgetting the pain of childbirth before the next baby, but I was convinced I would sleep just fine on an airplane full of people when I struggle to sleep in my own bed.

Ally, Jo Etta and I did not sleep at all, not for even a minute. Kendyll had a bad time getting to sleep and I worried about her sleeping entirely on Ally’s broken arm.

By the time we got to the farm I was just glad to be home. Texas looked like a poor Polynesia after the flowers and views of Maui. It was apparent there had been a lot of rain, my gardens were lush (and actually blooming with Plumerias-a Hawaiian flower I grow). I was so excited to see my poodle, Kona, and all the dogs. I had missed them tremendously hurrying down the beach to accost and pet any dog that ventured there with their human.

Richard, our house sitter extraordinaire, did a fabulous job keeping up with all the chores that make up our life on the farm. It is reassuring to have someone we can count on when we are gone that takes our requests (all 31 pages of them-okay it wasn’t quite that bad) seriously and tries to do exactly what we ask and then some.

After getting the dogs out except for Kona and Lula who went with us, Lauren and I headed to the barn. Still in our traveling clothes, we were immediately covered in sweat. We might have been visiting a tropical island, but the humidity and heat level in Texas far exceeded that of the tropical isle. First, I am not complaining, it worked fine, but each horse was to have a fly mask for their face. I had told Rich to use them each day but had not demonstrated exactly how they went on. It brought a smile to our faces to see Mick, Feather and Pixie with their fly masks on but strangely askew looking back at us from the pasture.

The horses and barn all looked good. Bruno had a couple of new scrapes but I think he is the type of horse that will always find a way to get hurt, just like a young boy with the perpetual skinned knees. Rich had told us Kid had been kicked and had a cut lip, but Kid cuts his lip on a regular basis so I don’t think any kicking was involved. Mickey and Pixie looked a little fatter. But Lauren and I might have as well-we were on vacation you know.

We probably spent a couple hours out at the barn,  just fiddling around with things, lungeing Bruno, hosing off hot horses.  Except for the incredible heat it was a nice way to spend the afternoon.  We got unpacked, the washer running and beds changed-you know, the usual back from vacation stuff.

I went to see my mom.  I had found her some pink shirts that were Hawaiian looking and stopped for a chocolate milk shake.  She was pretty happy to see me.  I, on the other hand, was overtaken with emotion upon seeing her.  This was the longest time I had gone without seeing her since I brought her here from Colorado.  I was hugging her tight and holding back tears.  I am not sure she even really knew I had been gone.  But I sure had felt her absence, especially have been somewhere she had been such a part of on so many visits to the islands.

I got to bed early.  I was home.