Home Sweet Home

Borisova AntoninaForm 11 A Composition Home Sweet Home Home to me, it is mynest, my cave, my comfort zone for heart and soul, my safe haven. Home is alsothe place where I design my environment to reflect my personality, turning mysurroundings into an extension of myself and making them part of me visually aswell as ideologically. Home is where I come back to after an outing, and itawaits me with my worn slippers, my comfy recliner

and my happy pets. Home iswhere I know every nook and cranny, every creak and groan, every smell andevery patch of light and shadow. My homeis my castle I have the right to make it almost inaccessible to unwelcomeintruders and welcoming to those I love and respect. It is my retreat from theworld, the showcase for my treasures, and the stronghold of my values. Home it is my second skin, my soil in which I am rooted, the roof over my head andthe blanket for my soul.

Sometimes I wonder how a professionallydecorated house or apartment can be a real home to the people who live in it.To me, it seems as if that was the same as wearing a stranger s clothes orsomebody else s prescription glasses. Sure, it may serve the basic purpose andit may look better than if you used your own things and ideas, but it s justnot you. Isn t hiring somebody to create your living space, your home, a lotlike having the secretary choose your friend s birthday present flowers and puta birthday

card in front of you to sign while making your dinner reservations?The birthday is remembered and observed, the employee quite possibly hasimpeccable taste and chooses well, yet the whole setup misses the original ideaby miles. What about adding one s own personal touches to a professionallycreated environment then? Would this fix the problem? It might - but usually,such a professionally designed environment is finely

balanced, and changes oradditions as small as a misfit picture frame in the wrong place or a chairpulled closer to the coffee table for comfort mar the professional scomposition and, in a way, defeat the purpose behind hiring a decorator in thefirst place. I personally believe that a home should grow over time and becultivated by those who live in it, rather than be served like a classy butprefabricated dinner by a stranger. Strangers just never put the right amountof salt in it, if you ask me.

Have you ever watched a dog turn round and round before finally lying down for a cozy nap? Some animals in the wild dothe same thing, and I think the purpose of this is to create a sort of moldeddip in the ground cover for added comfort. Me, I like my slippers molded to myfeet, my chair molded to my body and, generally, my home molded to my mind andsoul. These things do add a lot of comfort to the dog bed part of life.

Comfortis not the only reason for having things just so , though. If youhave a runaway brain cell singular like I do, you probably live pretty muchon instinct at least some of the time. Living on instinct means, in part, thatyou don t notice much of what you re used to, but anything out of the ordinarymakes you perk up your ears and squirt some adrenaline through your system justin case it s needed. For me, any unfamiliar noise, smell or sight does it, andI get flighty

without meaning to. Atthe same time, being in my familiar, second-skin surroundings at home gives mepeace of mind and a feeling of security which is as intense as that nervousnessis. I suppose you could say that there is a lot of mental and emotionalsecurity in old slippers and the faint buzzing of your refrigerator. Security. Have you ever noticed that yourhome is the only place in the world where your level of security is entirely upto you?

You have choices ranging from unlocked doors to barred windows, both inthe physical and the figurative sense. You have the option to keep out theunwelcome by way of locks, caller IAlthough there are exceptions such as determined criminals or junk e-mail overwhich we can t always have control, the home is where we make the rules, wherewe decide what or who may be part of our personal lives. Whether we entertainfriends, have a family get-together, take

in stray animals or people, or post No Trespassing signs around our property and refuse the travelingsalesman or missionary, it s our choice. MY HOME IS MY CASTLE Nobody can dispute that. Isn t itwonderful I personally have a veryprotective streak when it comes to my home. Although I just plain love havingfriends visit, and though I keep the lights on during icy winter nights for theoccasional friend, it gives me the willies when

uninvited, pushy creaturesinvade my territory. Home this littlehouse in this little town, my home, is wrapped around me like a mama s hug, itnourishes and protects me and mine, and I can tell you from the heart that -There s NO Place Like Home !