Home sweet...what the, where is that?!

Home has always been a tricky word for me, probably for my family too. Over Memorial Day I was hiking to our cabin with my brother and mentioned being homesick in Phoenix. He asked precisely the question I was wondering myself: "Homesick for where?" Yeah, I'm not sure. In fact I think when you've moved around like we have you truly understand the saying 'home is where your heart is' better than anyone. The particular brand of homesickness I meant was a longing for things old and weathered, greenness, community. But I want those things in Phoenix. I want to make them happen here, I don't want to have to leave to find them. So we're working on those goals.
Surprisingly, I am getting my wish for greenness right this moment. My company does these landscape classes on our properties and I have to set up all the A/V stuff for them. So Sam and I are at one of my favorite properties just outside of the city, sitting in their park by the lake, watching the sprinklers and waiting for the class to end. There are a couple solid acres of grass and lake right here, so if I take off my glasses I can pretend there is no desert beyond that. It is ironic that this kind of property is such a luxury. If you want to live in a dense, tree-covered grassy place, just live in ANY other part of the country and you won't have to pay a bazillion dollars for it! But alas, I would be unemployed if people did not want grass and trees in the desert, so I'm not complaining.