In Chicago, if you drive for an hour... chances are, you're still in Chicago. Max, you're in Skokie or maybe Naperville (if you were driving at 3 a.m.), but still the Greater Chicagoland Area. Which was a problem in the "getting away" department, because it was a major chore to get anywhere that even vaguely resembled "away". Maybe that's why we got out of the habit.
Because sweet jesus, it's easy to get to a great place, just an hour away. Why did it take us FOUR YEARS to even try it?
Here: Grey. Probabily misty rainy--that sort of unsatisfying rain that is cold and clingy and wet but doesn't have any sort of cozy-inducing rat-a-tat-tat against the windows. Just a numbness-inducing blah.
There: Blue skies, and feet--as in plural of foot, feet--of snow.
That's the peak of Mt. Hood that you can see. That's the mountain I can just barely see (if I ignore the apartment complex blocking it) from my bathroom window. That I see looking east along the Columbia River on my way to work. It's flipping gorgeous.
There's more over on Flickr, if you want to see pictures. I'm relaxed and ready to get back to grading... although I did just heave a really big sigh upon typing that. Maybe a better way to put that is that grading doesn't seem like it's pulling the capillaries out of my skin one at a time anymore. I'm ready for this next week.
Thank you Andrew for taking this trip for me.
2 comments:
Beautiful pics. I hope the vacation was relaxing and rejuvenating - you guys deserve some good times. I love the pic of the two of you looking so happy!
I love that last picture. Andrew shaved (or almost) his head? I thought that you guys were sitting in front of some sort of weird insulation or something -- didn't realize it was snow until later.
Glad you got to get away for a bit. And only an hour away from home at that!
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