News and Views

My poor camera made the mistake of bathing, just for a minute in the Atlantic, and has returned to familiar surroundings: the Canon repair shop. But before it departed, it had the courtesy to to leave some pictures behind, a few of which I'll share with you.

In brief: a trip to Maine is a pilgrimage any traveler must make at least once in their life. Without giving you the full description, the four days I spent there were sublime, relaxing beyond anything I could have imagined. As Dave mentioned to me, you feel healthier just for breathing the magnificent sea and pine scent. Indeed we spent some long minutes silently walking about the point behind the lighthouse, taking in noisy draughts of the cool air and periodically breaking out into laughter at each other...and then breathing deeply again. No matter how many times we chuckled at ourselves, a couple paces down the path and we'd be at it again, quivering with the exertion of trying to dispel a lifetime of civilized air for the raw, invigorating breezes that play upwind of the port.

After the conclusion of events in D.C., which can be related upon request, I spent the better part of a week exploring and relaxing in the northernmost state of the continental-forty eight, then returned home just in time for the advent of school, a day or two in the house, then the mayhem of the first week.

And so, The Doughty Traveler comes home, back in familiar surroundings and cosseted by the sweltering, smoggy city that is my first love. Is the city the same, by and large, but the traveler could not be more different, a topic which will merit another post.

For the now, enjoy the pictures.