The Comfy Cozies: Stream of Consciousness Sunday

It’s Stream of Consciousness Sunday at Jana’s Thinking Place. Her optional prompt today is:

What makes you feel cozy and safe?

The drill is always the same. Write for five minutes. Don’t edit what you write. Post what you have. Easy!

It’s chilly here probably because it’s in the mid-40s but it’s damp which makes it look colder and feel the same.

So making me feel cozy this very minute is sitting here in my softest sweats, sipping hot chocolate on my comfy down couch and writing this. Cozy, indeed. That’s what immediate, right now, cozy and safe feels like to me…being warm and comfy inside my house.

But cozy and safe in “life” is different than that; feels different.

To me, it’s my family and friends. Being with them, touching them physically and emotionally. Laughing together. Playing. Talking. Having little inside stories only the otherknows. Familiarity of a million types.

Yesterday, cozy was standing in a parking lot tailgating on a college campus, feeding my kids and their friends dogs and burgers while sipping Irish coffees with old friends.

Cozy and safe to me is a feeling not a structure. Never a particular set of four walls. It’s more about the “who” than the “what or where”. That’s the big picture application of cozy and safe to me.

Although, sitting on the same couch, under the same blanket with my hubby while he watches the Bears and I read….

This is the small picture view of cozy and safe. But I’m betting it’s the person and not the couch. And it’s the reading and the watching as we do something we both love that gives us that comfy cozy glow.

Home Is Where Your Peeps Are, Simple As That!

Stream of Consciousness Sunday- Five minutes so lets go! And don't touch a thing.

Today’s (Optional) Writing Prompt: What is going home like for you? Do you still live in your same hometown? What kind of memories do you have associated with the place you grew up?

*************************************

I feel very differently about what “home” is now. More so than an other time in my life before.

I grew up about 5 miles from where we are now and we’ve lived in our village here for 20 years. That’s a really long time! I still go to the same mall, run errands at some of the same places, eat at some of the same restaurants, etc. (it's not as boring as it sounds, really!) It feels cozy to me.

Maybe I’ve gravitated to places that have the same cozy vibe. 

I grew up in a western suburb of Chicago that was set up into blocks and the streets were beautifully tree lined with the top branches arching overhead creating a cool shade for us all summer long as we played in the street. Everyone played outside from the moment the moms opened the screen doors until the bells started ringing for dinner.  when it got dark, the night games started kick the can, ditch and capture the flag. It was a pretty sweet way to grow up. Thinking about that feels like “home” to me.

Where we live now is very much the same, aesthetically for sure. Tree lined streets set up in blocks all feeding to the big park three doors from our house. Kids everywhere biking, playing hoops and messing around. Schools all within walking distance. It’s a cozy little existence tucked into one square mile, anchored by a tiny little town right on the train line to the city. We often call it Mayberry. It was a pretty sweet way to grow up for my kids. It feels like "home" to them.

Now for our dilemma...

Do you stay in the family house forever? The cozy “home” your kids have really only known. Or do you downsize and move towns to save money on the taxes that made this sweet community our home for 20 years?

We decided during date night last night….”Home” is wherever the four of us are. Simple as that.

**********************************************

P.S. "Home" also includes two large Labs and the newest addition with whom I am currently obsessed. She's Henrietta and so fun to watch!

All Things Fadra