I like calling North Carolina home

It's a line from a song, but in my case it's also true. Tonight was one of the many reasons why.

On a whim of mine and with organization we did only in the mid-afternoon, but with unanimous agreement, a group of nine of us, family and extended family, headed out for an early dinner at Panzanella. Panzanella is a lovely Carrboro restaurant that specializes in serving locally sourced food. I ate an appetizer soup of potato and smoked gouda, then an entree of seared scallops and risotto. Both were delicious, as were all the other dishes I tasted--though, to be completely candid, the soup really could have benefited from bacon. (To be fair, most things would be better with bacon.)

We then drove over to Maple View Farm, a local dairy and meat supplier that I've mentioned before. We ordered cones and bowls of ice cream they make and serve right there. We ate on picnic benches and watched the sun vanish and the night slowly creep up the sky. The combination of a cool summer day and cold ice cream left some of us cold, and many huddled together for extra warmth. Some kids played on a mound of hay. Firefiles buzzed around us. Bats flew overhead. Absolutely nothing of consequence happened, but sometimes that's exactly what you want. It was a wonderful evening.

I never planned to settle anywhere. I grew up assuming I would move around. But I'm here for good, and though I often travel and hope to do so a great deal more, I'll always come back here. It's a great place to live, and I feel fortunate to have ended up here.