Gone or Finally Here

It’s rare to have a picture of a personal milestone. Simply having this photo makes the moment even sweeter (something I didn’t really think was possible):

(click to enlarge)

Once again, I’m seeing road signs of places I know. The struggle to stay awake in western Kansas is gone. I’m so excited now I can barely sit still. In three hours, I’ll reach Boulder, where an old friend has a guest room ready for me.

At the Denver city limit sign, the temperature (according to the thermometer at the bottom of my speedometer) is 31. It was 33 when I left Canton. The sleet now slamming into my windshield is different, too. Still, the roads are wet, not snowy.

As I climb into the Boulder foothills, snow covers the trees and grass along the roadside.

There is the warm welcome only old friends, excited dogs and a blazing wood stove can provide. There are stories told, memories remembered and then to bed.

As Edward Abbey wrote: “He slept the sleep of the just. The just plain tired.”

This morning, Boulder is just showing off:

I drive to Denver, pick up the key to my new apartment and, eventually, I find it. Nice neighborhood:

I unpack the car, look around and try to figure out what to do next. The possibilities are endless.

In the immortal words of Sam Gamgee, I’m back.

For now.