Sunday, August 8, 2004

America the Beautiful

OK,  this is great.  I gave up on walking or doing anything else today.  I think that both the reality of yesterday's funeral and the jet lag from our trip hit me simultaneously this morning, so I took one look at the magnificent day outside, curled up on the couch to watch the first episode of Season 2 of Six Feet Under, and then went upstairs and slept the rest of the afternoon.  After dinner, I went off to our semi-weekly friends' Sunday night porch gathering, thinking I'd stay maybe half an hour, but I caught my second wind about three hours ago and just got home from an evening of nonstop raucous conversation.  I am WIDE awake and I have to get up at 6:30. 

So...one entry and then I'm going to bed with a 12:15 a.m. reading deadline.  I mentioned that flying across our country when there are no clouds is an extraordinary experience.  I wish I could have hung from the bottom of the plane with a camera.  From the mountains of Idaho to the plains of Montana to the hills of the Dakotas back to the plains of the Midwest to the greenery of Minnesota eastward:  in this time of international unrest and national fear, it is truly moving to see our country from the air.  No flags or billboards or bumper stickers or campaign banners or protest signs visible from 35,000 feet up -- just an astounding expanse of natural beauty and wealth.

None of those pictures are available, so I'll just offer another of the Columbis River Gorge from our trip:

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

I'm catching up on jnls...love this picture in blk & wht....