Month of Gratitude, Day 21: On the Road

I'm grateful for the road.  For being on the road.  For road trips.  For a life full of wandering from place to place, coming back and leaving and circling around again.  

I live in what is arguably one of the loveliest places imaginable -- West Marin County, California -- in what is arguably among the sweetest houses on the planet.

Does that keep me there?  Nope.  There is nothing more satisfying to me than driving off, and coming back.  Not staying put.  I love my rearview mirror, and what's in front of it.  (Except maybe traffic jams.)  It's just exciting as heck.  Maybe it comes from living in 25 different homes before you're 50 years old.  Not sure.  But I do know that it feels like a little part of me dies when I honestly assess the fact that I will never see the whole world.

I'm pretty sure that one of the major reasons the death penalty attorney part of me works well is because of the road trips involved.  Investigation necessary in Laramie, Wyoming?  YES!!!!!  Pack up the dog, your adult daughter, and drive on out into the wild.  

Novelist and screenwriter extraordinaire George Pelecanos says, "Yes, everything you need to know in terms of factual research is probably available in the library on on the Internet.  But there's no substitute for breathing the air and feeling the dirt."  

Amen to that. 

Today, Gracie and I are on the road: 

  
driving part of the 850 miles between Whidbey Island and West Marin, CA.  (Usually we do this trip in one day.  But there's supposed to be snow.  So, we're breaking it up.)  We'll be listening to audio books and the radio, and thinking fond thoughts of all of you!!!!

Thank you to the road.  To adventure.  To seeing what is new.  And to coming back to what you love.

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NINE DAYS LEFT!  Post a comment letting us know what you're grateful for, and you'll be entered into the November 30 drawing for a free gift of Bean Up The Nose Art product specially designed for this month of gratitude.  Tweet or Facebook or blog about the contest, and your name will be entered five more times.  What are you grateful for?