As you can imagine, Greece has been much on my mind these past days. It's not like I have a particular in with Greece, you know, like we're that close. So tight Greece and me. BFF. There are thousands who are feeling this particular fear and heartache far more than I. Still, even before the horrible stories and images in the news, I've been thinking about our trip a lot. This was the kick off to our summer, and now summer is coming to a close.

I haven't talked about our trip here nearly as much as I thought I would. Life gets in the way, as I often say, and really this blog rarely does what I expect it to. But oh, it was such a special time. Special for my family, and just for me...a real personal kind of special in so many ways. I wanted to be brave and I was. I navigated metros and menus, and I got a lot of parts of this trip so right. I sunk into that place like slipping into a hot jacuzzi on a chilly New Year's Eve. Relief and exhilaration all at once. The air around me fairly crackled with my connection to the sea, the sky, the food, the people. If someone handed me an airline ticket today, even with the promise of a bumpy, smoky landing, I'd go without question. Neel can get Callum to school tomorrow.

We're coming up on our fourth anniversary in the little gray house. Right after we moved in, Hurricane Isabelle dealt us a glancing and memorable blow. It was alarming and scary to suddenly live in a place that could be taken away in a heartbeat. But that can happen anywhere, I suppose. Later that fall, Santa Ana winds fueled trememdous fires in Southern California, seeping San Diego County, the home we'd just left, in a smoky haze. Every day I checked the news, listening to the internet feed of my old radio station, and heard stories of fires near our old condo, and friends stuck inside as their cars and yards were covered in ash. Between the hurricane that literally bore down upon us and fires swarming around where we used to be, I was far more emotionally affected by those fierce flames. I've never tried to camoflague it; a large part of my heart was left behind in San Diego, so of course I felt the impact of those fires keenly.

I feel the same way when I hear about these fires in Greece. Sorrow and yearning, all wrapped up in the knowlege that Greece is not mine, it never really was. I can love it though. Today I'll use so pictures to show you what I love so much. I'm still working on finding words.