Oregon

See that flight path over there on the right? See how the flight was heading south from PDX and then it banked eastward?

That's me not flying home.

I planned on being back in Aptos this week, but an unexpected medical LOA for a co-worker led to a reshuffling of my itinerary. I wish my co-worker a speedy and fully recovery.

In the meantime, you might be wondering where that flight path took me. If you caught the mention of "Houston" in the title above that diagram, you'd be in the ball park.

But Houston wasn't my final destination. Instead, I hopped a (sigh... inevitably delayed) flight westward to San Antonio where I'll be spending the week. I'm through day one of this five day class, and I'm pleased to be teaching such an energetic and amusing bunch. That's always a great combination.

But back to Oregon.

What can I say about Oregon? Time permitting I could tell about the great time I had visiting Mom, my sister, and my two nephews. Or I could write about the wonderful time we had in Hood River attending Richard and Sabrina's wedding.

But time is short... Too short.

Though I could (and I suppose I should) post some photos of the trip (sigh... maybe one day I will), I'd like to take just a few moments to try to capture in words the lasting impression that I took from this trip:

I was humbled by the beauty that I continually witnessed throughout the time in Oregon. I've been to Oregon several times before, but somehow I saw it through different eyes this time. Perhaps on all the other occasions I was simply stupidly viewing what I saw through a snooty Californian's eyes. I could struggle and strain to capture the beauty I saw this time, but I suspect words will simply fail me. Instead I'll just say one more time... I was humbled by the beauty.

So no photos of Oregon tonight. Maybe one soon (the same thing I've said about Japan and Russia and the Balkans and Peru and...). Till then, here's a silly little video I captured flying into PDX...