Coming Home, 2011

Day eighteen: A picture of your day.

Let's pretend I'm posting this on Saturday.  Okay?  Okay.
Ahh, homecoming!  Utah State, my heart will always lie with you.

My day on Saturday was perfectly prepared by an eventful Friday night, camping out on the Quad with some wonderful new friends as well as breaking the world record for the longest kissing chain.  You know us Aggies and our kissing ;)

And then came Saturday.  A great morning with time to get some good soul searching in, going to the USU Bookstore to get game day t-shirts, pre-game BBQ picnic out in the sunshine, homecoming game with my best friend, neighbors, and roommates, and finally the homecoming dance followed by late night ice-blocking with great company.

These are my days in Logan, Utah.

Journeys

Day eleven: A picture of something you love.

Certainly, travel is more than the seeing of sights; it is a change that goes on, deep and permanent, in the ideas of living.  ~Miriam Beard

TRAVELING.  The world.  The open road.  The adventure.  The serenity.  The expanse of human experience.

What more can I say than quote the great words of those before me?

The following is two stanzas of a 15 stanza poem by Walt Whitman.  The whole poem is absolutely fabulous.  It is my favorite poem-- if you can spare five to ten minutes, fulfill your quota of great, classic literature for the day and read the rest.        

Song of the Open Road

BY WALT WHITMAN

Afoot and light-hearted I take to the open road,

Healthy, free, the world before me,

The long brown path before me leading wherever I choose.

Henceforth I ask not good-fortune, I myself am good-fortune,

Henceforth I whimper no more, postpone no more, need nothing,

Done with indoor complaints, libraries, querulous criticisms,

Strong and content I travel the open road.

The earth, that is sufficient,

I do not want the constellations any nearer,

I know they are very well where they are,

I know they suffice for those who belong to them.

(Still here I carry my old delicious burdens,

I carry them, men and women, I carry them with me wherever I go,

I swear it is impossible for me to get rid of them,

I am fill’d with them, and I will fill them in return.)

The earth expanding right hand and left hand,

The picture alive, every part in its best light,

The music falling in where it is wanted, and stopping where it is not wanted,

The cheerful voice of the public road, the gay fresh sentiment of the road.

O highway I travel, do you say to me Do not leave me?

Do you say Venture not—if you leave me you are lost?

Do you say I am already prepared, I am well-beaten and undenied, adhere to me?

O public road, I say back I am not afraid to leave you, yet I love you,

You express me better than I can express myself,

You shall be more to me than my poem.

Continued at http://www.poetryfoundation.org/poem/178711

Further Linkage to Fun Traveling Tips:  Nomadic Matt's Travel Site

How to Travel the World Part One: http://www.nomadicmatt.com/travel-blogs/how-to-travel-the-world-part-1-pre-trip/
How to Travel the World Part Two: http://www.nomadicmatt.com/travel-blogs/how-to-travel-the-world-part-2-on-the-road/

The Love of Life Itself

Day five: A picture of your favorite memory.

Cousins, adventuring in caves, no make-up and no cares, sharing stories, laughs, and love on a bright spring-break day.  That sounds like favorite memory material.  :)

But how can you really choose a favorite memory?

                         Just one?

What would such a thing be made up of?

Family, friends, laughter,

             Excitement, adventure, fun,

                       Simplicity, happiness, meaning?

A favorite memory would be warm, nostalgic; a reminder of the good things in life, a thought that makes you smile and count your blessings.  Would it not?

              Or maybe it would be short, simple, like the moment you realized that you were really in love with your best friend, or the time you won your first medal for dance.

      Maybe it would be your first kiss, first sunrise, or first concert,        

               Or your last day of childish freedom, last bite of that heavenly dessert, last goodbye to an old friend.

The best thing about a memory is that it is yours--preserved in your mind, etched in your heart, told in your words.

My favorite memory is all-encompassing.  It is a combination of good food, good times, good music, and good company.  It is the evening fire with the family by the beach, the long talks with an old friend on the bench outside, the beauty of the view from the top of the mountain, the recognition of a love far greater than yourself.  It is powerful yet simple, exists all around yet solely in your heart.  It is love and acceptance, contentment and happiness.  My favorite memory is life itself.   

Of June, 2011

Sunsets.  Sandy Toes.  Ukuleles.  Sunglasses.  Family.  Friendship.  Music.  Reminiscing.  Flickering fires.  Dancing.  Cocktail Umbrellas.  Candlelight.  Pictures.  Memories.  Love.  Mocktails.  Gatherings.  Facing Fears.  Running-Through-the-Field-of-Daisies Dress.  Warmth.  Laughter.  This is Life as a Love Story.