The US of A

The trip home from Newcastle, England, to Seattle, Washington, came to pass without incident and with some relief with such a distance of travel. Though, setting foot on American soil did bring about a greater feeling or sense of sorts.

Funny how a country can carry with it a certain feeling. At least this seems to be true for me. Stepping off the plane in the US from 10 weeks in England brought about a certain relief in the sense of a feeling or a weight lifting from the shoulders, so to speak. I wouldn't call such a feeling good, bad, or otherwise - it is not clear in my mind exactly what a feeling represents or even how to define the term "feeling" that I use here. Although I certainly attributed the arrival in my home country with a sense of relief and a feeling of "home". Do any of you share the same experiences?

Just an overnight near Seattle at Grandpa's and it was off to Idaho for a wonderful and very worthwhile trip to my cousin's wedding this past Saturday. It is a great thing to re-establish with family that have been visited little in the previous years - most notably to see cousins that have grown to unrecognizable young adults. Every mile driven was worth it (yes all 1600 of them to and from) in addition the scenery was beautiful. I had failed to recall just how beautiful the Cascades and Eastern Washington were not to mention the unique beauty of Eastern Oregon and Southern Idaho. Certainly a recommended drive, especially if the end goal is to visit some long lost family.

Now back at Grandpa's the remainder of the summer is scattered with the odd plan or two, however, the future is relatively wide open. And just how many more times in life will a person be able to say that the future is wide open? A good question, but a question to which the answer seems to be more hidden within the attitude and the perspective of the one doing the asking.

Now having returned from England - Newcastle seeming to be so far away both physically and mentally - the challenge remains to put into practice or memory what I had learned and gained while in England so that such lessons and experiences are not wasted or forgotten...

Short term traveling back to Alaska is looking promising, though, the next few days will certainly tell...