wispfox

There were many days in the White Mountains with metahacker.

There were stars, many many stars. And we never even went anywhere specific to go look at them.

There was walking in woods and mountains and rivers and mushrooms of various and unexpected colors and shapes. There were rocks for crossing wet places, for sitting on, for petting, for having pet rocks, and for being pets of rocks.

There was cuddling. A whole lot of cuddling. Also, cuddling.

There were conversations about bears and moose, but no actual sightings by the two of us of either one.

There was a gradual increase in ability to deal with walking in places with uphillness.

There was a cold with a fever that came and went.

There was conversation, chatting, silliness, and connecting.

There was a room that could have been better in various ways, but which was still a good room for being a room in which there was much time spent with metahacker.

There was a hot tub that I never got around to using. There were various very friendly owners and workers at the Bed & Breakfast we stayed at. There are wee pretty paintings, and postcards that failed to be sent while we were actually there.

There was grumpy, there was tired, but there was also a deep low level joy at being in mountains with trees and green and quiet.

There was remembering that mountains and hills are a rightness for me, in ways that flatness is not. And also remembering that places that tend to have them also tend to not have much to do in the evening.

There was much passing of various towns I've lived in or near, remembering when Concord, NH was a big city to me (Boston used to terrify me; Manhattan still does, although less so), seeing various towns that I think my high school used to have sports games at.

There were times when there was too much moving and I needed to just sit for a while and talk to the mountains and trees and grass. There were many more times when I just knew where I was, and was glad.

There was a fire, marshmallows, and small, hyper children. There was very little reading, and no internet access (or indeed, a computer, for me).

There was beauty. There was simplicity. There was quiet. There was time away with metahacker. And it was indeed good. I really needed that, for the time away, for the nature, for the time with metahacker.

There are pictures, which I may get around to posting some of.

Driving to work was not bad, once I remembered to relax. So driving home should be fine, and I _should_ be able to try driving to and from work one day a week again! *hopeful*

It is, however, perhaps not the wisest choice of music to play "Long Way", by Antje Duvekot (from Little Peppermints) on the way to work, when I'm already filled with wanderlust. :) (but I still appreciate the recommendation, metahacker!)

Because today I am posty!

Also because today is apparently "how to make a wispfox Really Want To Travel" day.

And clearly I need to go check out Sacramento's local wildlife rescue center/native animal zoo at some point.

I am home. And I have a kitty who seems to mostly be forgiving me for being gone, even without bribery. He seems so _small_!

Not yet sure if I'll be able to sleep, but I was getting sleepy in the car, since it was less bright than in the airport.

I was strongly disconcerted when I noticed which side of the road jasra was driving on, and I didn't even _drive_ there. Much stronger reaction than I expected to have, that was.

Not unpacking or reading my snail mail (or work mail!) until tomorrow. Probably will read my home email before attempting to sleep, though, because it allows me to give my kitty some good pettins on the couch. :)

(yes, I miss australian_joe, alecto23, summer, and melbourne. Unsurprisingly. :) But my kitty and roommate are happy to see me, and I, them!)

Random quick post from LAX.

That was the shortest night I have ever seen (what with leaving MEL at around noon and arriving in LAX at 7:30am), and my brain is immensely confused by it not being the middle of the night right now.

Also, American accents sound really odd, although there is certainly variation in how odd. But, they are growing less so. We shall see how long it takes for me to lose what little accent modification actually happened!

It's also strange to have my two flights today leaving at almost the exact same time, on the same day. Damn international date line! :)

Mew! Now I see how much LJ I can catch up on in my time until I board. Lots I have not read, and may not get to, due to lack of net for over a week. And my treo is without a ssh client so I can't check email with it. And trying to track one down would be painful!

In ~5.5 hours, jasra will bring me to the airport to start me on my journey to Australia.

In ~10 hours, my cat will start wondering where I am, and I will be most of the way to LA.

In ~30 hours, I will land in Australia after the longest plane ride, and longest contiguous bout of travel, of my entire life. Assuming that they don't divert to Sydney, that is (even if they do, though, I will still be _in_ Australia at that point). Probably without much, if any, sleep, since my sleep of last night.

Nervous about the travelling there part, impatient about the _being_ there part. Curious as to how quickly the difference in light will affect me, curious about how long jet lag will last. Curious at to how my culture shock will be (note: NYC still causes a small amount of culture shock in me, even after spending a few weekends there by this point). Not looking forward to the probable depths of exhaustion and discomfort from being on a plane that long. Or in transit that long.

No idea when I will check mail/LJ next. I also expect to _not_ be reading all of my friends list while there.

Ten days.

And I am _so_ _nervous_!

Two weeks until I get to have a month of summer in the middle of winter.

What with the rain and darkness today, I'm _so_ looking forward to it! (even if it _is_ 60 degrees F out right now)

Why, yes, it _is_ mid-January, and I donwanna! About pretty much anything that I've got scheduled or have to be doing. This includes work, of course, but also includes going anywhere to do _anything_.

Meh.

On the plus side, three weeks until I get to escape the excessive lack of direct light and rather remarkable amount of cloud cover of late.