By Joanne Niswander

In a couple of weeks I will be back home.

Home in Bluffton.

But where have I really been for the past month and a half? Hasn't this house on Cape Cod been home, too? How do I explain a feeling of "place" that means more than one place?' I have felt very much "at home" here at Woods Hole. The surroundings and the people are different from those I left behind in Bluffton the first of June, but it's been home nevertheless. Some things are different, but I find many things to feel the same.

For example: I was more than pleasantly surprised the other night when we had sweet corn for dinner, fresh from a nearby roadside stand. When I husked the corn, it felt like "home." Meaning, of course, that the smell, the feel, and the look of the corn evoked Northwest Ohio.

At the table, the Massachusetts-grown sweet corn tasted (may I dare to say it??) as good as Suter's or Schulte's. So we bought some more two nights later, to share with company.

A special taste of home - away from home. Here on Cape Cod we've had more than our share of sunshine this summer - but not enough rain to go with it. So there have been several days when I've been alternating sitting on the dock and reading while moving the garden hose to the next set of flowers. Just like home in Bluffton, where we don't always have enough rain at the right time.

I had to get a haircut during my stay here, as two months is too long to go without a trim. Always a question mark when on a trip - will I end up with a haircut I can't live with?

As it turned out, the haircut came out great, although more expensive than one I'd get back in Bluffton. Oh, well . . . We don't have air conditioning in the house here, so it reminds me of my childhood home where our windows and doors were always wide open in the summer to let in as much breeze as was available. It is definitely more humid here along the coast than in Ohio, but Bluffton certainly has its hot and sticky days, too. Home, wherever it is, doesn't always give us exactly the temperatures we want.

On the other side of the coin, some things here are definitely different.For example, a whale-watching trip to Provincetown is not on Bluffton's list of things to do.

Or walking the Freedom Trail in Boston while reliving some of America's early history.

Or sitting on a picnic bench by the water, eating our fill of fried clams and cole slaw.

Or watching the funkiest Fourth of July parade I've ever seen, an annual Woods Hole event dreamed up by the biological lab students and faculty. (But the show of fireworks at towns all along the coast is typically all-American.)

So, where is Home?

For me, Home can be almost anywhere. I have most of my belongings in Bluffton, and I plan to keep my "stuff" in Bluffton for the rest of my life. But I love to see new things and new places. I can soon "feel at home" almost anywhere although, between trips, I enjoy getting back to the old familiar haunts.

I know that not everyone feels the way I do, and I realize that Bluffton would never survive if there were not a host of you who stay at home and keep our town in good running order. Bluffton needs those "solid citizens" who stick around and make this town a very special place to call Home.

So, thanks for taking care of things while I've been gone. I'll be Home soon.