Ramble
Quest - October In Green Town.
I came very close to ending the trip at this point. It's not that I was tired of traveling or feeling desperately in need of money. It was more like I missed having something like a home base, a quiet place to sleep and a good shower. Still, I didn't feel quite done yet. So, I took an October break in Waukegan with my sister Peggy and her husband Steve.
I saw some of my other friends as well, but not as many or as often as I normally would during a short visit home. I really just needed to chill for awhile, catch up on the journal (5 months behind!), and catch up with myself. We had unusually wonderful, warm weather so I did my obligatory bike trips up to Illinois State Park and down to the Chicago Botanic Gardens. I love a good October in the Midwest! It strikes a chord with me, those beautiful fall colors and sweet melancholy scents in the crisp, cool air. Living in Ray Bradbury's Green Town for an enchanting autumn month and relishing peaceful quiet moments of reflection was exactly what I was looking for.
I continued to read a lot, taking my friend Drew's advice to fly through some Neal Stephenson novels. I saw some movies and caught up with my movie list. I even watch TV (normally ignored outside of "The Simpsons" and "Cops") and learn things about American pop culture. I learned (and quickly forgot) which sports teams were good. The Cubs made an unusual post season run before reverting to type and snatching defeat from the jaws of victory. I can now recognize the names of hot politicians and artists. I learned who the genuinely frightening Sponge Bob Square Pants is and can roughly identify many of the characters in Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Often the US return culture shock is the biggest for me.
After many years of missing the grand event, I finally made it to one of Peggy and Steve's infamous Halloween parties. In the past, I'd only seen the photos from these ghoulish bashes, but this year I got to take the photos.
One day I'm thinking about a job and a place to live, and the next I'm thinking of traveling on. On some days I don't think about it at all. Then I spot some good air fares to Ireland and all sorts of possibilities spring to mind. I could tour Ireland and jump out to Scotland, or maybe Wales, or perhaps somewhere else as well. It's really an impulse, but once I latch on to it, I quickly buy a ticket.
Peggy and Steve decide to capitalize on the low fares to take a short trip to Ireland. I arrange to meet them in Dublin, grab my backpack and hit the airways once again.