Rocinante

One think I will miss very much about leaving Virginia is my involvement with the ALS Association. I have already looked and could not find any sort of information about the presence of this disease in the islands. Today at clinic, one of the Association's representatives felt that my idea to have a fundraiser as a way of staying connected was feasible, but then I fear that as absence makes the heart go wander I might forget about my passion. Nonetheless, I think if I ever get tired of the career that I am in that my second career would be that of an nonprofit event planner because of the way that making a difference makes me feel alive.

Yesterday I spent my lunchbreak window shopping at the Corner. I ended up in the old used bookstore across the street from what was, until recently, the Biltmore Grill. I remember my first week in Virginia I was told that this was the best used book store around and yet I had never been in it.

My choices were limited by the fact that I had neglected to leave my office with more than 3 dollars and a small handful of coins, but I found John Steinbeck's Travels with Charley. Not only relevant to my current situation, but also short and therefore the perfect size for packing. As I perused the first chapter, I found us to be kindred spirits of an insatiable curosity and a refusal to be convinced into any other lifestyle:

"When the virus of restlessness begins to take possession of a wayward man, and the road away from Here seems broad and straight and sweet, the victim must first find himself a good and sufficient reason for going. This to the practical bum is not difficult...and all plans, safeguards, policing, and coercion are fruitless. We find after years of struggle that we do not take a trip; a trip takes us...In this a journey is like marriage. The certain way to be wrong is to think you can control it. I feel better now, having said this, although only those who have experienced it will understand it."