Be It Ever So Humble

There is no place like home

After spending most of the last month visiting areas of the US which I have not visit before. I’m left with a sense of wonder. The diversity of where people live in this country is remarkable. From the Mid-and Northern Mid-west which provides large farming communities; to the North west which while I was there was true to it’s reputation as rainy and cloudy; to the dry rocky Mountains and upper plains. Each region provides its own beauty.

We truly have a country of vast diverse environments. I enjoyed all of the beauty I saw and hope to visit many of these areas again.

Grand Canyon was my highlight.

But I also found it difficult to breath at altitude. Each step along the rim of the canyon was work. After each 50 steps I needed to stop and rest, finding shaded rocks to sit on was a relief. It took almost 4 hours to walk 2 miles. Wearing a mask indoors was also difficult. I needed a door to the outside so I could remove my mask. So it was easy to say that the beauty literally took my breath away.

All of the south west we visited was at an altitude of over 4000 feet. I spent 7 days gasping for breath.

We stopped in Oklahoma City on the way home.

Here we visited the OKC Bombing Memorial. This memorial is am example of the carnage extremist can administer when not kept in check. Yes, some would call our founding fathers extremist, but they did not attack innocent children. The militias who planned the kidnapping of the Michigan governor can be linked to Terry Nichols and Timothy McVeigh who killed 168 people including 19 children.

A reflecting pool separate two walls which represent 9:01 to 9:03. On a hill to the side 168 chairs represent each of the people who lost their lives that day.

We must work to prevent future events of this type.

Our final major stop was in Memphis.

I must apologize to all my Memphis friends for not reaching out. By the time we reached Memphis, we both had travel colds. We spent a day and 1/2 in a Memphis motel sleeping and getting well. We did have take out from One and Only barbeque.

A stop in Ozark, Alabama

Just before arriving in Ozark, Alabama we observed a rainbow.

We had dinner and breakfast at a local diner called Our Place. Southern cooking at its best.

And Finally yesterday we arrived home

Our cat has spent the last day giving us a lecture. She does not like being left. Today was spent cleaning up financial issues. We also started the process of getting our refrigerator fixed. Hopefully, we will be back up tomorrow.

But our own bed is still better than any bed in a motel or hotel.