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Years ago, I thought I wanted to live on the seashore. I still do, but I also want to live among the trees like I do here in my cottage in the woods. I want both. The best of both worlds can be found on Cape Cod. Between the national seashore and the inland flats, sit kettle ponds and scrub pines that beckon you to rinse away the salt water and float your worries away. If I want to hear the roar of the ocean, I'll head over to Nauset or Coastguard Beach. If I want to be lulled by the soothing sea air and walk along the flats for miles, I'll head over to Crosby Beach or Rock Harbor. But if I want to swim, really swim, nothing beats a fresh water pond... in my humble opinion.

We've been tossing around the idea about moving to the Cape for years. At first (when I still thought there was a chance we could do both), we thought about buying a summer place. Then we thought, we already enjoy our summer place, let's just move there when we retire. Then because retirement seems (and is) so very far away, we thought about moving there after the girls go off to college. We honestly don't know what will happen, but I do know that I need to go back home more often until we figure it all out.

Someday, I want to be able to get in the car and visit family and friends without the hassle of a 5-hour car ride. I want to be able to show up for some holiday cheer and still be in bed by 10:00. I want to "pop in" or "stop by" because we happen to be driving through town (after a polite phone call requesting permission of course. If there's anything I've learned about family, it's that you do have to respect everyone's privacy.). And that's the reason we want to go home: family.

The salt air and bog roads have been whispering in our ears for a while now. And now, they're whispering in our children's ears, too. My son has already moved to Massachusetts and the girls have both announced that when it's time to settle down someplace, that place will be Cape Cod. Time will tell. For now, I'm keeping my fingers and toes crossed that we'll all be together again in the not so distant future, all of us watching our grandchildren race down those bog roads and splashing around in the waters we call home, for many years to come.