I was in Alabama all last week for work, and now I’m out of sorts.  It was my first real experience traveling for work, and though there weren’t really any big surprises, time went exponentially faster.  After working all day, my computer remained off and I was oblivious to all the news stories enveloping the rest of the world.  It was peaceful when this happened and I was camping in California, but at a lonely hotel room overlooking a TVA dam built in the 1930s in northern Alabama, I was a little antsy.  I wasn’t setting up a tent and building a campfire and opening a wine bottle without a corkscrew – I was sitting at the hotel bar drinking a beer and reading my book, just waiting for the next day of work to come.

It was mostly wondering what I could be doing with my friends back home if I were not so isolated.  I tried to make the most of my downtime by going for a couple runs on a really great nature trail across the river from the hotel.  I went golfing with my boss and two others from work one night and I found my swing after a couple holes and just relished in the feeling of a ball well struck.  A long straight drive is soul-soothing.  I went to bed early and woke up with the sun.

But I miss my bike.  And going for bike rides until the sun goes down.  And cooking dinner at home and not gaining weight from eating out every night.  And some friends back home who I won’t see enough of because it looks like I have to go back to Alabama next week and they are out of town this week.  But at least I got to be here for the Tulip Time hot mess, even though I complain about it every year.  It’s good to be home.