While I am not much of a traveler, and while I will never again spend so much time away from home (we've discovered that a week and a half is my maximum), I can still appreciate the unique sights that traveling offers, sights that would be missed if not for the experience of traveling.
The photo above, which is not very good, captures a glorious sunset as our plane approached Ohio on the descent with the canopy of cumulus clouds just right below us.
I am very happy that we spent those three weeks in Puerto Rico. Not only was the time ridiculously productive for my Whiting purposes (one book chapter written, another chapter for an edited collection revised and submitted to the editors, the talk I will give at OSU this Friday on the book project finished, conceptual and drafting work on the final chapter of the book started, and syllabuses for the fall drafted) but my husband and I really enjoyed our simplified lives, especially the long walks on the beach in the mornings. I also really appreciated the opportunity to reconnect with friends and family in ways we had never had a chance to do before.
We're also sold on the Vacation Rentals By Owner idea and don't foresee ever returning to a hotel if we have that option. Indeed, I've even looked into the possibility of renting a studio in Cambridge when I return in May for an exhibit on Louisa May Alcott. The short-term rental of a fully furnished and functional studio will be a fraction of the cost of any hotel near the library where I will do my work.
Fun was fun but fun is done and I'm so glad to be back home with my furry children, though that means I don't have as much uninterrupted time (since there's always puke or pee or poop or a combination of all to clean or be concerned about). Being home is sweet precisely because that's where the matters of the heart are both work and joy.
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