homeland.

Let me tell you the story of the home I found in fields of green grass across the sea. My father and two sisters led the way down the path toward our ancestral castle, toward town, toward an endless sky.

Around us, the only herd of red deer left in Ireland grazed on the land that had fed them faithfully for the last ten thousand years.

As I reached the peak of the hill, I gasped. The mountains of Killarney swelled over the horizon, Lough Leane a glittering sapphire below.

And ahead, the most wonderful tree, a proud and wizened friend, stood sentry at the gate: a doorway to another world.

The world my ancestors came from, the world I had long dreamed dreams of, the world I now beheld that was better than any of my imaginings. As if all the magical childhood stories I had loved had manifested before my eyes.

It was mine, now, too.

I had come from this place, this sacred place where the threads of the veil between heaven and earth had rubbed thin. I could hardly believe it.

True home–deep spiritual connection to a physical place–is an exquisite feeling. My soul has never encountered anything quite like it since. And now, nearly two and a half years later, I long for the day I can stand at the top of that hill again.

But for now, I will remember.

Current Novel Word Count: 18,757
What I'm Writing: Haven't worked on the novel in a bit but I did get to 
work on editing one of my old short stories. Hoping to submit it to
some journals for publication soon.
Weird Writerly Topics I've Googled This Week: none
Writing Exercises I've Done: Nothing this week.
What I'm Reading: Native by Kaitlin Curtice; Sing, Unburied, Sing by Jesmyn
Ward; How to Be an Antiracist by Ibram X. Kendi
What I'm Listening To: Not a lot of music, but lots of podcasts. The Office 
Ladies and Motherfoclóir are two of my favorites.