Back in the west now

I have been away to the east for three weeks. The purpose of the trip was to visit MCC and wrap up through debrief and a series of meetings. And while I was out there I caught up with friends I hadn’t seen since 2008.

Half the time was looking back and reflecting. I visited my fallen friend Glen’s family in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. I met with a counselor who determined I don’t have PTSD. I gave a presentation of my work of the past two years to my stateside colleagues and met with administrators. I stayed with Mary from Nantucket in her (electrified) basement of an Amish farmhouse.

And then I saw my sister’s best friend and her husband, visited Washington D.C., stayed with old friends, and met new people and thought and talked about the future. I went to the Smithsonian to see Julia Child’s kitchen, dinosaur bones from Wyoming, and the magnificent jewel collection of the American people. And finally I traveled to New York, New York with Eden and we visited Stacia. Michael D. Smith was there, too, and we caught up after five years.

I’m ambivalent about recording my life online right now. For the past two months, and for the next two months, I will be visiting family and friends. It means lots of moving around and great reunions that I won’t do justice to here.

I don’t know what will happen after those two months, but this trip felt like closing a chapter. Now I'm looking forward.

Lancaster County in February
Most of Glen's family. I understand why he liked them so much.
Birds at an Amish farm for tourists
Ashley and Lucas, Abby’s best friend + husband
The New York Times ran an article about doughnuts last week. This is the decor at Doughnut Plant, one of its featured destinations.
Eden and Stacia lived together at grad school in Connecticut. Eden introduced me to Stacia when Stacia moved to Kabul. All three of us spent the weekend together in NYC with Stacia and her husband.
An old elevated train track, the High Line, has been converted into a beautiful elevated walkway with art pieces along the way. Each pane of glass in these windows is the color of a pixel of photos of the water in the Hudson River taken by the artist.