What I miss

It's good to be home. 

Cece always says very sadly: "Why do you have to go home? I don't want you to leave," and she hugs me tightly, and I say "But I miss Dave."

There are other things I miss when I'm in Colorado:

my other 'kids' and grandkids

my own bed

the view from the bedroom window

Dave's oatcakes

the taste of tea made at home

sitting in the sunshine in our bay window reading the Saturday paper

my garden

the Monsal Trail

cox apples

Bramley apples

shop-bought puddings that aren't drowning in corn syrup

wholemeal bread not containing sugar

playing Scrabble with Dave

talking to Dave

my friends

my study

my laptop - Isaac always kindly lends me one of his while I'm there, but the environment is so different and I don't have easy ordered access to my files and my emails so my writing life feels hampered

my sax

(what I don't miss is the slug that's taken up residence in our porch)


There are definitely things I miss about Colorado when I'm here:

the family, of course

Wendy's bike

which is so different from mine and such fun to ride, with its upright riding position and cruiser handlebars, but which would not be fun on these Peak District hills

the multi-use trails in Boulder that go in every direction

the bike lanes, and the courteous attitude of drivers towards cyclists

the vast open spaces

the views of the Rockies

the Flatirons

the sunshine

the blue skies

cycling to lunch with the family and eating outside in the sunshine

the Boulder Bookstore

being able to go into any cafe and find at least three kinds of salad on the menu

being able to order just about anything on the menu in any combination at any time of day in any cafe, and not being told stuff like "we don't serve lunch after 2" or "you can't have a full breakfast after 12" or "you can't have coffee while you're waiting for your lunch" or other British restrictive eating-out nonsense; 

American bacon and burgers, separately or together

the girls' cuddles

going out to breakfast with Wendy

watching Seinfeld with Isaac

and last but not least - margaritas!