I'm flying home tonight, and will be back on this blog sometime next week. Home. The word has never sounded so good.

“From now on I hope always to stay alert, to educate myself as best I can. But lacking this, in future I will relaxedly turn back to my secret mind to see what it has observed when I thought I was sitting this one out. We never sit anything out. We are cups, constantly and quietly being filled. The trick is, knowing how to tip ourselves over and let the beautiful stuff out.” ― Ray Bradbury

The Shinran Shonin statue at the Buddhist temple on Riverside Drive (between W. 105th and 106th), NYC. This remarkable statue survived the atomic bombing of Hiroshima, was brought to New York in 1955, and stands as  "a testimonial to the atomic bomb devastation and a symbol of lasting hope for world peace.”

The Great God Pan by George Grey Barnard, at Columbia University (Broadway & W. 116th)

Trees in bloom, Riverside Park

Cherry blossoms and daffodils, Riverside Park

Water's edge, early morning, Riverside Park

Tree and sky on Broadway &  W. 97th

The Bear Cat sculpture by Peter Woytuk on Broadway & W. 67th

A canopy of blossoms, Amsterdam & W. 103rd

"Everything is blooming most recklessly; if it were voices instead of colors, there would be an unbelievable shrieking into the heart of the night."   - Rainer Maria Rilke

"It's spring fever.  That is what the name of it is.  And when you've got it, you want - oh, you don't quite know what it is you do want, but it just fairly makes your heart ache, you want it so!"  - Mark Twain

Above: Chris Thile (of New York's The Punch Brothers), Aoife O'Donovan (of Boston's Crooked Still), Edgar Meyer, Stuart Duncan, and Yo-Yo Ma perform "Here and Heaven," a very beautiful song from the Goat Rodeo Sessions CD.

Below: Aoife O'Donovan's band,  Crooked Still, performs "Look On and Cry."

And one more song and band from the lively nu-folk/alt-bluegrass scene here in the U.S.:

The Carolina Chocolate Drops, out of North Carolina, performs "Hit 'Em Up Style." To learn more about their music, there's an interesting little video here.

The situation I came to New York to attend to has reached a successful conclusion, and I'll be heading home soon. I feel like I should have something more mythic and eloquent to say about it here, but after six months of having our lives dominated by this fearful, time-consuming, and costly ordeal, its resolution has left me somewhat stupefied with relief. I'm so very grateful to everyone who organized, contributed to, and participated in the auction last December, which gave us the financial resources to seek the expert help that has made this outcome possible. It's been a long journey, but the end is in sight now. The sun is shining. I'm going home.

The gorgeous song above comes from the much-anticipated new Mumford & Sons album (due out later in the year). It's called "Home," and although the lyrics as a whole don't relate to my own situation, the last lines of the song do, and have been running through my head all morning....

"And I'll be home in a little while, lover, I'll be home."

Home to my husband, daughter, pup, and the hills of Devon. At last.