Springtime in America

It is nice to be home for a little while and two and ½ months is a good vacation.  It was nice to watch the barren trees come back to life on my little gulley property in Tennessee, although now I can barely walk back there. Cutting my hair was a big step, but I was able to donate about 18 inches to Wigs for Kids. After a short stint of going

completely bald I realized that keeping my crown shaven was more work than blow-drying so I have decided to allow hair to come back.  Who knows? Maybe I will grow it long again…or maybe not. Then there was the long road trip from

Paris, Tennessee to Pensacola, Florida to see my family and friends there. That grandson is growing fast: pushing 5 years old and talking and thinking constantly he is gonna be a force to be reckoned with. After a week I drove to see Blake and Ashley in St. Petersburg, Florida. We had a great

visit, although it was too short  when I enjoy someone’s company so much. Still, I would rather that than “Is Dad ever going to leave?”  Then, off to Key West to see Mark and Lisa

who have a nice little place on a canal with everything Key West within reach: beaches, coconut trees, iguanas, and US Navy Jets.  Then the long 20 hour return drive to Paris again. 

Not resting for long I flew to Columbus, Ohio to visit Robert, Christina, et al. We had a great time visiting and I loved having the kids around me from breakfast to bedtime; of course Robert and Christina were great too. Love those kids! Now I am in pre-trip mode with pre-packing and sorting to see what I need and what I can take for a year away in Japan. A couple more dinners and outings with the nephews and a few friends and then I am outta here again in 7 days. There is always Messenger and Skype, which are an acceptable substitute to actually being there, but I am already looking forward to seeing everyone in person next summer. I the meantime, I definitely plan to enjoy Japan, visiting with my niece and her family in Okinawa, friends in Japan and Korea. It’s good to know people everywhere. Who knows where my adventures will take me, but I’m hoping to hit up a few places that I don’t have a fridge magnet for, like Taiwan and Thailand and Viet Nam.  We shall see.