Not Time to Think of Home Yet

Denmark is experiencing summer.....and its inhabitants couldn't be happier.  People are out everywhere....... walking, running, bicycling, boating, swimming, fishing, sightseeing, laughing, talking, drinking, strolling the dog, strolling the kids, soaking up the sun.  I am sure that the dark short cold days of winter bring an appreciation for these sun-filled days that I haven't developed.

It has been glorious today....the temperatures well into the 70's with high humidity.  But there is a glorious breeze that has been whispering through the trees and into the apartment.  What's not to love about a day like today?

I have largely stayed indoors though....getting all kinds of wonderful things accomplished.  We are packing up some boxes that we will mail home.  That will be a grand feeling to have some of the things we have acquired gone.  We will systematically de-clutter the apartment between now and the end of August.

Laundry....even with just 2 people seems to be ever insistent, and other cleaning as well demands attention.  With a talk to give on Sunday and a lesson to both English and Danish speakers at Institute a week from Thursday, I need extra study and preparation time.  I am still struggling to decide whether or not to give the talk in Danish.  It would be simpler for everyone - but me.  It will take a lot of editing, translating, editing and practice pronouncing if I do.  But it seems so much nicer than having someone stand beside me translating into the mike.  That is tedious to listen to ....especially since most everyone understands and speaks English.  But there are about 5 wonderful and dear people who would not understand, and they deserve to hear sacrament meeting in Danish.

I will be finished tonight writing it in English.....and then if I am unable to do everything I need to do to give it in Danish....I'll give it in English.  Simple.

As I type, a hush is coming over the city.  It is twilight, and the sky to the north is the palest of blues sinking into a lovely pink showing through the trees.  There are a few people sitting out on the benches occasionally conversing with each other as they gaze out over the still lake.  There is a man on the grass waiting patiently for his dog to lose interest in that tree.  It is still light outside...although it is dimming, but inside the apartment it is dark.....lit only by the windows.  It is a comfortable and cozy feeling.

I will miss this feeling of connectedness with people......our windows outside our Gilbert home smile on 3 citrus trees, and a puddle of grass.  There are occasional birds, which I enjoy wherever they are,  and - lurking in the corners -scorpions, but I just can't establish any kind of affection for those critters.

But Gilbert has its own charms.....12 young people who call me grandma, and some of my favorite people in the world.  Our children and their spouses....I am so grateful for them.  Even our daughter, her husband and children who live in North Salt Lake (a cause of some dismay when they didn't settle on the family street!).....make the idea of trips to Utah seem so very enticing!

Not yet.....I can't let my heart turn to Gilbert yet.  I will enjoy every precious moment I have here in this wonderful place.