Upcheck

Almost inevitably, the return to regular life has been a bit of a letdown after a long and eventful trip. It was really hard dragging my ass out of bed and getting motivated on this dark and rainy morning. Although there were plenty of dark and rainy mornings on my trip, come to think of it.

This weekend I got caught up with a variety of chores that had been waiting for my return. The last of them was to rake the leaves out front, which is actually a job I kind of enjoy, especially putting the leaves into the compost bin as another part of the eternal cycle. Well, okay, the very long-lasting cycle. It probably won't survive the death of the sun, let alone the heat death of the universe. Or does the heat death of the universe just turn everything to compost?

Cheery thoughts for a dreary day.

The nights away from home meme

Here are the places I visited overnight this year:

Roatan, Honduras
Crooked River Ranch, Oregon (several times)
Corvallis, Oregon (twice)
Topaz Lake, Nevada
Desert Hot Springs, California
Croydon, England (two discontinuous visits, although on the same trip)
Brussels, Belgium
Antwerp, Belgium
Nottingham, England
Wales, Massachusetts
Toronto, Ontario
Vancouver, British Columbia

Three different trips represented there, along with family visits in Oregon. I notice that I don't visit anybody in Washington. Actually don't visit much of anyone, I guess. What a recluse!