This weekend will find me back in my home in Hayesville, NC.

Home is where the heart is, they say, and my heart is in two places most of the time. 

When I am in Roswell, GA I am happy to be there with my family. Today I had lunch with my sister and my niece. I heard about Lee's trip to Boone to see her sister and we looked at photos of the places where Lee and Lyn grew up. Boone is so different now from the little town I remember from forty years ago. The college seems to take up the whole town. But I love Boone because of all the wonderful memories I have.

Back in the seventies Barry and I vacationed in Boone where my sister, June, and her family lived. We stayed at Seven Devils on the top of a mountain in a rustic little cabin. Sometimes Gay and Stu joined us. We always spent time with June and Stan and the girls. 

Now Lyn has gone back to live there. She is a successful real estate agent. Her dad would be so proud of her. He died when she was a young teen. 

I visited Boone a few years ago, after Barry died, and felt like I had never been there. Life goes on, and things change, some for better and some for worse.

Another day in Roswell, Gay and I had lunch with a former student of mine who became a dear friend. She lives in Cumming, GA just up the highway from where I am with my sister. I am sure you have had the kind of day we had. Beautiful weather so we sat outside. My friend, a writer and one of Atlanta's best Interior Designers, just enjoyed her 80th birthday party. Until she had COVID a couple of months ago, she walked several miles every day. She is the perfect example of most of the older women I know. 

Living in Roswell means I can see her more. She and Gay like each other and that is also good.

BUT IN HAYESVILLE...

I love my friends and my home in the mountains. As part of a thriving writers' group, I can attend readings and book signings, poetry and prose groups and I can mentor other writers. I can teach beginning writers and share my knowledge with them.  But living alone is problematic for me. And therein lies my dilemma. 

Taking care of a large house and yard is challenging and expensive, not to mention stressful. I will be in Hayesville for several weeks and see how I get along without my sister. I will miss her and so will Lexie who adores Gay.

Have you lived in two places at the same time? Do you have a summer home and a winter home? Many Florida folk do. After the leaves fall in autumn, they go back to Florida for a warm winter.