A whiff of fall was in the air yesterday, despite the warmth of a Kelowna September day. The flowers are still blooming, and with tourist season pretty much finished, the beaches are reclaimed by locals enjoying the quiet once again.

August found me relaxing at the Mackid lake house in the Kootenays … always a pleasure to visit my dear old friends Linda and Court … such a joy to sit together, enjoying the stunningly beautiful lake view, be it at sunrise, sunset or plunging in for an afternoon swim!

At the Yasodhara Ashram for our afternoon chant and meditationThere is something so comforting as being with long time friends … that feeling of complete comfort that just spills over into everything … much like the feeling one gets, when pulling on a pair of comfy sweats, pouring a cup of steaming coffee to just sit awhile …. savour and absorb life’s many gifts …. the warm accepting ambiance of friendship is undeniably one of those gifts …. Om Namah Shivaya 🙏❤️

Back in Kelowna, a few quiet weeks followed … a simple life with daily walks along the shoreline of Lake Okanagan, work outs at a gym, a morning wake-up yoga stretch routine, curling up in the evening with a good book, sometimes accompanied by a glass of local rose 😊. A few visits with neighbours, a bookclub get-together, a dinner out with friends here and there … all good, all pleasant ways to round out another Okanagan summer.

It occurred to me recently that I rarely call Kelowna my home, even though I feel at home when I am here 🤔 … I do not say “I am going home” … but rather “I am going to Kelowna” …. strange fact, that 🤔!!

Being on the road so much both in Canada and outside these last several years undoubtedly has something to do with that peculiarity 🤔. I do have a tendency to adjust reasonably well to new circumstances, new places … wherever I am, I make it my home! … perhaps I have had many lifetimes as a nomad and it continues to seep into the present one😂! I have friends who can hardly wait to get home from a vacation. I suppose I did too once upon a time, when I had a family to care for, children to raise, a home to keep, but life has changed … those days, those priorities have shifted. Still figuring it all out as I muddle along, adjusting and exploring these new internal and external landscapes that are my life …. home has become wherever in the world I happen to be. When I connect with my children, grandchildren, family or friends … I am home! When I fly to a new country, a new city, town or village, or hang out in Kelowna, I am home! Certainly not everyone’s cup of tea but it is mine 😊.

I have always been a rolling stone at heart and am only now coming to terms with it and accepting it. Something to ponder as the summer days grow shorter, and fall patiently waits to blow in. Hmmm so yes … a rolling stone … 🤔

I tune into the final Grand Slam US Open Tennis to watch crowd favourite Spanish sensation Rafael Nadal defeat the amazingly talented, calm natured young Russian, Daniil Medvedev (my current favourite when Roger Federer is out of the running 😊).

Yesterday, nineteen year old Canadian tennis whiz, Bianca Andreescu made history, winning the women’s final against the incomparable American juggernaut, Serena Williams who has dominated women’s tennis for over two decades! Andreescu is the first Canadian woman ever to win the US Open! Move over Serena, there’s a new girl in town 😊 … the inevitable changing of the guard …

Scenes from my daily walks, the foliage still bursting with colour ….