You can take the witch out of Jersey...

but you most certainly cannot take Jersey out of this witch! It felt so good to be home that I almost dug my claws into the craggy North Jersey mountain tops and refused to come back to flat as a pancake South Carolina. But, I came back and have been here for a few days but have been fairly quiet while I unpack, re-adjust and pray to every weather deity out there that summer has finally gone for good and I've seen the end of 90 degree days for a few months.

As we drove through 7 states and made our way up the long stretch of road that is I-81 North, my mind buzzed with excitement. In a short (ha-ha) 12 hours I would be back in the mountains on Northern New Jersey, seeing my friends, giving the siblings noogies, eating real pizza, wandering the forests that have been a part of me since I was a wee witchlet who was unaware of the fact that she even was a witchlet. I was filled with anticipation, but at the edges of my mind apprehension began to creep in as I realized the number of people who we needed to see was easily triple the number of days we would be there and as is often the case with these things, no one had the same days off.

About half way through Virginia however, I stopped caring and enjoyed the quiet drive through the Autumn colored mountainsides. I relaxed and vegged and thought about the upcoming Mabon sabbat and gave thanks for the fact that I was going home. While it was a bit surreal waking up every morning in a hotel room 15 minutes from my old apartment, it was pure bliss to get outside and have it be chilly and to be able to see the beginning of the leaves changing over. It felt good to drive the back roads I know like the back of my hand and not have to turn on the GPS at all for the first time in ages. It felt amazing to...

Eat at several of our favorite diners


Fool around with my kid sister. She ended up getting 7 stitches in her finger the day after this, making her the first kid in our family to ever get stitches.


Hang out with my (not so) little brother


Spend the day with the friends I've had for 20+ years.


Visit the mountain that holds so much energy, forest life and magic to me and which I have been visiting often since I was a little girl.


To celebrate these crazy kids getting hitched. They've been together for 8 years or so and are two of my favorite people. And, they know how to throw a hell of a wedding.

It felt so good to be surrounded by so many of the people we love and to be able to go out with the friends we've had forever that it's bittersweet to be back here in South Carolina, so far from all of those things and people that make New Jersey home. I know right now I have the same loneliness and blues I had when I came down here 6 months ago and know it will pass. Home will always be right there waiting for me whenever I need to go back to it and that gives me great comfort.