> Over the next few days, I hope to get more sleep
> than I did last night. Outside of that, I think
> our plans are to play it by ear. ahmoacah has
> some very interesting ideas about vacations --
> apparently, sleeping on the floor of a messy
> study and catching the wrong bus and wandering
> around a smoggy downtown on a Thursday are GOOD
> things. Personally, I would have gone for a
> beach or something. Of course, it is a balmy
> 1ºC (~33ºF) here at the moment, and to me, it
> feels like I AM on a beach. I slept with my
> bedroom window open all night last night!

All right. Sleeping on the floor and catching the
wrong bus are most definitely not on my list of
GOOD things. Sleeping on the floor (who cares if
i's a mess?) is a perfectly acceptable thing, and
getting on the wrong bus is a BAD thing.

But, one "interesting" idea I have about vacations
is a reaction, I suppose, to the over-scheduled,
over-planned vacations of my childhood. If there
are little... bumps in my plans, so what? It's
VACATION. So getting on the wrong bus is bad, but
why complain? You don't have to be anywhere in 10
minutes.

And THAT is my goofy idea of a vacation. Take your
time. Make sure you have enough time to go back to
something interesting you found. Wander around (I
didn't notice any smog) and just see what you
discover -- I was thrilled to happen across a nice
pedestrian-sized suspension bridge. Little things
can be just as nice as big things. I like to walk
because when I walk in a place, I learn it; I
don't forget it for a long time, I can navigate it
again years later, and, in some mystical way, it
almost seems like I can *feel* a place through my
feet.

And, so, it was cold. At least the snow was REAL
snow, not the goo we get where I live. Even the
snow was a delight for someone just escaping the
normalcy of home!

ahmo"It was a GREAT vacation, and Monkeyman and
his brother and his other roommate were all very
charming ;)"acah