More Thoughts on the Journey

As if my post about the trip wasn't long enough, I've got more to say!

• I discovered that, to my eyes, there is a strange beauty to the bare trees of winter. I'd love to see them contrasted against a deep white snow. Another time perhaps.

• Because Angela picks up her son at school around the time we were due to arrive home, she brought Baxter over to wait for our arrival. Normally when one of us pulls into the driveway he is at the doorway waiting to jump all over us, or as much jumping as a cat-sized dog can do. While unlocking the door I was surprised to see he was just sauntering over towards the door with a little mess on his mouth, no less. Alarmed, I opened the door to find him very sluggish. No jumping whatsoever. Bruce immediately came in to greet our little doggie. Wiping his mouth, Bruce snuggled with him a bit and momentarily he threw up! You gotta love having tile floors! Anyway, after another little round of face washing, Bruce took him on an errand while I unpacked. No clue why he was not feeling perky, but soon enough, with us around, he came to. Maybe he was getting anxious? Who knows. In any case here he is once again at his favorite perch reminding me of that old song, "How Much is that Doggie in the Window?:

• Of all things, both Bruce and I had pecan pie with our wonderful Thanksgiving meal. Still, I longed for pumpkin, thus I made this Spicy Pumpkin Bundt cake the day after we came home:

• Thanks to Nancy's comment on the cross photo, I was able to look it up, discovering that it is the world's tallest cross, rising 198 feet from the ground. They call it the Cross at the Crossroads of America. I'm so super glad we saw it at sunset. (http://www.thecross-photo.com/The_Cross_in_Effingham_Illinois.htm)
• You can't travel 1200 miles on the Interstate without feeling gratitude for those roads. Here's a little history if you're interested: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Interstate_Highway_System. I learned that it took over 35 years to complete, which doesn't surprise me a bit. In Texas, there are frontage roads all along the Interstate that make getting on and off extremely easy. Truth be told, if I'd been driving that truck, I'd have most definitely been on those frontage roads because they were mostly empty! 
• Just last week I learned that 51% of the world's population now live in cities.  I can remember when people were up in arms about the growing population in the United States, wondering where they would all fit. Lots of empty space out there folks!
• There was a time, well probably a very long time, when I barely noticed the rising and setting of the sun. That time is now most definitely in the past. I was enthralled with the gorgeous colors in the sky from this free daily light show. 
• Although I'd packed lots of things to do, I did none of them. Bruce and my atlas were all I needed to make me happy. Saturday morning, hitting the road at 5:45 AM I had to wait until the sunrise to use my atlas which made me a little disorientated. Although Bruce packed the GPS, which on occasion we definitely needed, the maps were a joy to use. I'm one of those folks that likes to know what's lies ahead. Part of the trip I had Bruce guessing the rankings of the states in both land mass and population. Interesting stuff, or at least to me. Texas is both #2 in size and population. It's big folks, very, very big. On this trip we only went through the pretty parts. Further west ,it gets pretty ugly, or at least to me! The Red River valley, or Texas hill country is what they call the part we traveled.

• Although I've no photographic evidence to support this story, in Arkansas we saw what Bruce estimated, and he's very good at that by the way, 30,000 birds gathered in a field, or make that two fields. As we approached the one nearest the highway, we thought the white was leftover cotton in the fields. Then, further away, Bruce sighted the field with even more birds;  many were soaring upwards in a real live sighting of winged migration. Simply glorious! If you've not seen the film, Winged Migration, I suggest you do.
• The older I get, the more I'm interested in living in the moment. Years ago, while still grieving the loss of our mother, Bruce suggested a trip to St. Lucia, a place I'd never even heard of. As I lay on a beach lounge chair I picked up my book to read because that's what I do. I'm a reader. It was then that I realized how silly that was. We'd traveled so far to be in a new place, and there I was putting my nose in a book, not even enjoying the place I'd come so far to see. That's sort of how it was on this trip. Why go somewhere else in a book when I had all I needed--time with my beloved husband and the wonderful world surrounding me? I've learned my lesson.
• It felt good to be away from the constant lure of the computer.
• When showing Angela the $19.95 motel, in her typical British wit, she cried out, "They're charging too much!
• Driving home from the airport, we saw a beautiful rainbow which I'm claiming as a sign that things will work out just fine for Jonathan and Alissa. Life usually has a way of doing just that.

Now, it's time to figure out where in the world we'll put our Christmas tree......