August 2, 2010

Dear Reader:

We've been on vacation. New York; Camp Lajeune; Havana, Fla.; Pensacola; Pascagoula; New Orleans; Fort Benning; Oklahoma City; Grants, N.M.; Flagstaff; and Lake Havasu. More than 5,000 rental car miles in two weeks, airboat swamp rides, mango daiquiris on Bourbon Street, chicken-fried steak, grits, fireflies at twilight, thunder storms, tar balls on the beach, and visiting with family. And what did we learn?

Well for one thing, climate matters. It was hot, hot, hot - 104 and muggy when we arrived in New York. On the other hand, it was 61 and raining when we ate lunch in Flagstaff and 109 and blistering when we arrived in Lake Havasu a few hours later. Folks who say it's not the heat, it's the humidity, have never been to Havasu in the summer. It's also the heat.

The bug population is alive and well in most rural areas of the country, which means the birds are also doing well, getting fat and happy on grasshoppers and dragon flies and squabbling among themselves over territory. The frogs are also out in force, especially where the bugs gather, like under porch lights near Havana doorsteps - not the best place for a frog-a-phobic female.

Folks still say "sir" and "ma'am" in many parts of the country, and when you walk out the door they say, "y'all come back real soon" so nice that it makes you want to stay.

Many people are astounded that we chose to drive back from New York rather than fly. It was never even a close call. Unless you're in a rush or there's an ocean to cross, driving always beats flying. You stop where you want, you talk to folks along the way, and you don't just see the country, you smell it too - the fresh-mowed grass in the prairie states, the horse and cow manure as you pass by farms, and the sweet evening smell of jasmine outside the window. But maybe the biggest lessons of all, come at the end of the trip.

It's always good to get home. And we can't wait to go again.

Until Next Time,
George Cunningham