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Wednesday, October 7, 2009

On Returning to America After Being Away






There is no way to put it nicely: coming back to American has been hard.
The reduction in blogging reflects that.

The 2009 summer trip through Belgium and France to Switzerland was great.
You can view the best photos on this blog by scrolling down to go back in time. When you get to the end of this month's "chapters," just click on the "Older Posts" button in the lower right to bring up last month's postings. You can go back month by month that way.
Or, you can just click on the month you want at any time from the menu on the right. The summer 2009 trip began in June and ended in September.
Cyane, at least, had been looking forward to returning to the end of the trip, returning to America, and taking care of business. Alan would probably have liked to travel longer.

So, what has been so hard to take, coming back to America?
Well, the level of public discourse and political dialogue, reflected in the first photo, is strident.
Having to drive is a shock. Not only are distances great, public transportation rare, but also one often does not feel safe when not in a car.
Financial anxiety and even outright poverty are rampant.
Exploitation of workers seems the American norm - if one can find a job.
The public world is so often disappointingly ugly.
On the other hand, there are many kind people, who are reflected in other entries here, who create beauty where and when they can.












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