I'm Back.

Here I am.  I suppose no one has really missed me but I've missed this place.  So I'm really talking to a place not a person.  Doesn't surprise me.  I was just outside encouraging all my plants, telling them how beautiful they are and to keep it up!  And I talk in my head all the time.  To myself.  To God.  To whoever is listening I suppose.  I imagine we all do this.  I'm not unique in this.

I've been away.  From here.  From my real world.  But I am back.  Back in my house.  Back in my place. I'm unpacked physically and the laundry is all finished.  But oh it was so good to be away.  I loved every minute of it.  Well, maybe not the ones where I was lugging a huge suitcase on and off of trains but all the others I loved.  And I took pictures.  Approximately 3417 of them.  I know that's a lot.  But it was my entertainment.  And after all, we live in the digital age so I can  plow through them and weed some out.  I won't weed out many though.  Each one holds a place in time, a memory that I loved.  I'm not too fond of ridding myself of those moments.  I think my dad would be proud of me.

I feel like I have a million things bantering around in my brain from this trip.  I thought this might be a good place to process them but right now there's way too much activity in there to settle on one thing.  The places we visited were rich in so many ways - history, beauty, adventure.  The people we met along the way were incredible, some of whom I'm hoping will become more than acquaintances, others I'll never see again.  The things we experienced, the food we ate, the sights and sounds are all so ethereal and then when I look at these photographs they become more concrete and real again.  I'm so glad I took them.  There are some places I wish I'd spent more time and others I'm so glad I experienced.

I know it sounds like we were gone for months.  We were only gone for 19 days but I feel like I packed a half a lifetime into them.  I'm hoping to use this place to unpack them.  (I just calculated and that's only 180 photos a day.  When you look at it that way it's much more understandable, right?)

More to come and I'm sure I'll share a few photos along the way.  For now, life goes on.  There is history to be made, beauty to behold and adventure to share right here at home.