Neglect and Travels

The afternoon finds me typing away here near St. Paul, Minnesota. Thanks to the gracious friends with which I am staying for a few days I have had a couple days of quiet solitude to do a little studying, a little thinking, and a little emailing.

Thus, after burning some time catching up on email I thought it quite appropriate to update the neglected blog site, just in case someone interested in viewing the site would care to find themselves upon a new posting...

It would seem that traveling across the Mid-West is rather more exciting than I thought it would be. Now I don't mean to diminish the wonderful opportunities of visiting the friends and family spread out in this area - such visiting has been a great time and wonderful to do. Rather what I speak of is the actual traveling from place to place - much of which seems to be cornfields in the mid-west... In any case I had forgotten just what an expansive place the mid-west is - I don't think one gets a good feel for this by looking at a map - the distance is truly something only to be experienced by physically traveling it in a vehicle or some other method that takes one over the ground.

So, with over 1500 miles on the rental car in the past week and plenty of miles left to go I can say that this country is certainly a vast expanse of - well - corn fields in these parts anyway. Well, not completely corn fields, but it sure makes for a funny (or boring) thing to imagine. The days ahead are certainly anticipated for the different country to view and the people to visit, but I do predict that by the end of the next week and a half I will be ready to end the current nomadic sort of travel.

One stark point in the past few days has been the sharp rise in gasoline prices. After just filling up yesterday morning at $2.55/gallon the price had increased to near $2.89/gallon yesterday afternoon and near $2.99/gallon by this morning. However, just as I start to dwell selfishly on how expensive a gallon of gas is it becomes increasingly clear that the reality of the situation is not focused on the true tragedy; I would contend that the tragedy to which we should focus our prayers and thoughts is upon the people affected by Hurricane Katrina. So, that is a challenge to myself and to anyone who would wish to participate - instead of focusing on the matter of $ for gasoline say a prayer or provide some help for those affected by Katrina.

From here the travels will extend to northern Minnesota, Upper Michigan, Lower Michigan and finally Cleveland, Ohio. Hope to return to Alaska around 19 Sep following a week back in Tacoma, Washington. We shall see what the future brings...

So, anyone out there want to share what life means to them? What do you believe life is for?