Landfall

A long time ago, back in the days of sailing ships, captains and crews would set out onto the ocean. Explorers in search of new worlds. When the ships reached the horizon they would disappear. Some folks back then believed the world was flat, and the ships had fallen over the edge of the world. But to the sailors on board, all they could see around them was endless ocean, especially when the land disappeared from sight. They would spend months, sometimes even years at sea. If you read the logbooks of some of these captains, they would always write of a melancholy crew, homesick, seasick, sometimes even mutinous. Some captains made sure to bring musicians on board who could play the fiddle or pump organ, insisting that the crew dance and sing, so as to relieve their melancholy. But nothing ever cheered up the crew more than the sight of land.
Land Ho! a place to land, where you can put your feet down on Terra Firma.
I thought of this when I was looking for a place to live, where I could put my own feet on terra firma....and I found one. And the sense of joy and relief that those sailors must have felt (not that my situation could come even CLOSE to the hardship that they must have experienced, once again I just liked the metaphor).
After wondering where I would ever end up after selling the house, I found a place where I can hang my hat, for a while anyway.
But it's a new world, and a new beginning.
In 1519, when explorer Hernan Cortez reached the New World, he burned his ships, which sent a message to his crew that there was no going back.