I know my title sounds a bit dismal, and, maybe even unappreciative. Nothing could be further from the truth. It is just hard for me to leave “home.”

I am so content living in my beautiful Chicago, in my apartment in the sky, with my husband, Shelly, and my delicious pooch, Orchid.

I am a homebody, and yet, when I venture out, which I often do, I am a city woman who revels in the delight of everything in Chicago.

I love and enjoy everything about my lifestyle. I live in the heartland of America. I live in a condominium in the middle of the city, one block from Lake Michigan… a lake so huge that it reminds me of my past lovely life, Honolulu, where I was able to gaze daily at the Pacific Ocean.

I look out our windows in my beautiful condominium and I see the city skyscrapers, Navy Pier, lake harbors and parks. What is not to love?

So, I don’t feel the need to pack up our bags and move to our second home in California, because I am content. And being content is a marvelous state of mind.

Many of you, dear readers, pack up your bags and travel during the winter months, too. I am sure that many of you feel as I do… that there is no place like home.

Despite this, we are grateful that we are afforded the time and good fortune to  leave our nest and take off for warm weather during the winter months to either second residences or to family or the unknown.

My husband, Shelly and I travel to our beautiful home in California. I am over the top grateful and never forget my blessings.

My lifestyle in California is 100% different than it is in Chicago. What do I love about Rancho Mirage? Our home.

It is also the place where I found my later in life purpose and passion… to become a writer. If I had not lived in such a sleepy little place, I know I would have never picked up “pen and paper,” so to speak, and begun my musings about life after fifty.

My husband and I live in a home in Rancho Mirage that we built from scratch. There was not a blade of grass on the property. I am not bragging when I tell you that everyone says, “The Good home is a home you never want to leave.”

The colors throughout are celadon green, representing God’s gift of nature and Chinese red representing the vitality of life. There is a rock crystal fire pit because of my spiritual side.

Throughout our home are several very tall live trees and Orchid plants. They grace every room because I am a nature lover. It is a Feng Shui home. It is our home and we, including Orchid, dwell in it with a feeling of total Zen.

My writing began within this home’s four walls. It was the natural place. Over the past four years, since I began writing, I have concluded that every one of us, dear readers, has unique life experiences.

Have you ever considered picking up pen and paper within a quiet place in your home and preserving your life experiences for future generations?

Here is what you can do.

1.   Research.  Keep a journal. Talk with older family members and friends about times past. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Mormon) has genealogical resources available to the public. Check their web site at familysearch.org.

2.   Organize your gathered information.

3.   WRITE!

4.   Edit.

5.   Publish for your grandchildren.

Please give thought to preserving your thoughts.

Our bags are packed. We are leaving Wednesday for a totally different lifestyle. I won’t hear the fire engines and airplanes overhead. I won’t see magnificent architecture and people racing down Michigan Avenue. I will miss my mom and friends. I will miss the people in our building to include the kind concierges and doormen.

But, I am grateful that I have my husband, my pooch, my Zen home and lazy peaceful days to pen my feelings and thoughts to you, dear readers of mine.