I guess it’s a little like the twilight zone.  We went through a door and walked out of this life only to walk back in ten months later and find nothing has changed.  Well, almost nothing.

Before we left the air-conditioner broke. I replaced it but the workmen left gaping holes in our ceiling which needed to be spackled and painted. The ladder was out but the workmen didn’t have time to finish. And we didn’t have time to put the ladder away. So it felt a bit like the twilight zone when we return to our home and found the ladder exactly where we left it and the jar of spackle at its side.

The closet too is exactly as I left it, robe still on its hook as if I’d hung it there only minutes before.   A very strange almost sickening feeling.  After living for 10 months with the same four pair of pants, three dresses and an assembly of tops I find that I have ten times as many clothes and that I haven’t missed them.

Other aspects of our lives feel constant but not static.  We recently had a book launch for Andy and his colleague Alex. Several friends and business colleagues turned out for the occasion and the relationships feel as fresh and alive as ever.

Not everything feels like a time warp and not everything is how we left it.  The Freedom Tower and 911 Museum are completed.  A new mayor has taken office giving hope to those of us who want the city to be more than a developer’s paradise.  Our friends teenagers are 10 inches taller and one of my closest friends has found someone she cares deeply for and has started her next chapter by moving off to the suburbs.

All of this to set some background for the now most commonly asked question (after “What was your favorite place?”):  How does it feel to be home?  So time warp and big changes aside….

It’s nice to sleep in our own beds, under our own stars, visiting with friends and family, and enjoying the privileges we often take for granted:  free speech, access to Google, Gmail and Twitter.  On the other hand it seems strange not to be visiting a new or exotic place, learning about new cultures and tasting new foods. And the obesity and narrow-mindedness of many Americans is more plainly apparent, and distasteful.

And, I’ve lost my New York edge–to the extent I even had one. It seems that everyone here is rushing to be first in line.  And I feel no compulsion to join in the rat race. The Californian in me has returned.

So while some things have stayed entirely the same, other things are wholly changed. And that includes me.