From Blue Sky Days to Blackbird Fields: The Last Post for Peace Corps Kosovo...

We made it home on Monday evening, and since then, there are moments when I find it hard to believe I have been gone for two years. Most things have not changed that much. The house is pretty much the same, but we got rid of some furniture before we left, and everything was packed either into the basement storage room or one bedroom. But then on Tuesday evening, I saw the neighbor's little boy. He was not quite two when he left, and now he is four. He is so big. He also has a new baby sister. That said, I am not finding it hard to pick up where I left off.

On Tuesday, I unpacked my suitcases. I am still amazed how much we got into three suitcases plus our carry-on backpacks. By Wednesday, I found the essentials and had most of the kitchen, bathrooms, and bedrooms functional. Along with that, since Monday, we have gone to a girls' high school soccer match (to see the exchange student, who will move in with us in May) play soccer, taken the oil painting we received to be remounted, attended meetings, walked, biked, hung out at the beer garden to meet our new mayor, caught up with friends, and had dinner with our daughter and her fiance. Today, we met up with another former volunteer, who lives in Wisconsin. She works at a brewhouse, and we stopped to have a few beers while we caught up on things. It's good to be busy because it makes the transition easier.

Last night, Thom and James (our daughter's fiancé) moved the furniture around that needed to be moved, but they also moved the furniture from the kitchen off the hardwood floors. We are having the floors redone as the floors were scratched when our stove was delivered while we were gone. We timed it for when we are visiting family in Ohio and Kentucky, as you can't walk on the floors once they are done for several days.

We were blessed with beautiful weather for the last week and a half in Kosovo, for our four days in Montenegro, and now here in Wisconsin. It has been a beautiful spring, and I have enjoyed the second round of flowering trees, as Wisconsin is several weeks behind Kaçanik. I have enjoyed seeing the muskrats, geese, ducks, turtles, toads, frogs, and herons on my walks around the pond. Tonight we saw wild turkeys, and there are birds everywhere. It is good to be home.

Tomorrow, we are going to the University of Wisconsin, Madison, for the send-off brunch for those people who will be leaving for their Peace Corps posts over the next year. In a way that is full-circle for us, as we attended the same send-off before we left three years ago. We will have a chance to meet and talk with those who will soon be off on their own adventures. It is a fitting end to our adventure.