As I write this, I am sitting on my parents’ back porch in Louisiana soaking in the last few minutes of sunlight.  Dorothy was right when she spoke the words, “There’s no place like home.”

My parents’ yard is erupt with three colors of azaleas, Nancy Graybeards, yellow roses and dogwoods.  When I woke this morning, I immediately caught the whiff of my mother’s bakings from yesterday, and I was whisked to my childhood. I brewed a cup of coffee and dove into the Word.  The morning sun rose, and the rooster next door began to crow.  The cat meowed at the door, which means, “Let me in, so I can climb in bed with you and take a long winter’s nap.”  I then took a long walk down a country road and inhaled everything peaceful, serene and still as the sun’s morning rays danced around me.  The air was crisp and cool; just perfect.

For me, home in Louisiana is peace on Earth.  It’s slow.  It’s quiet.  It’s tranquil.  It’s love.  And it’s rest.  The little cottage pictured isn’t my parents’ home, but exemplifies the simpler life I think we all sometimes long for.  In my quest for simple, I long for sustained serenity, peace and respite.  In a busy world full of much complication, I’m grateful for the solitude of the towering pine trees, daffodils, magnolias, homemade chocolate cake with buttercream icing and crawfish.

I’m learning it’s extremely important to have a place of respite and a time of peace.  Where do you flee to seek solitude?  Where is your breathing space?  I would love to hear more about the sights, sounds and smells that bring you great reprieve.  Please share in the comments below.