Home (from the road)

I gotta get home there's a garden to tend,
There's fruit on the ground and the birds have
all moved back into my attic, whistling static
When the young learn to fly I will patch all the holes up again.

So I try to understand what I can't hold in my hand
And wherever we are, home is there too.
And if you could try to find it too, 'cause this place is overgrown
into works and bloom
Home is wherever we are, if there's love there too.

- Jack Johnson, "Home"

The bare trees of Ohio never looked so good, nor the green grass looked so green. Leaving the northeast (Saranac Lake to Watertown, south to Syracuse, west through Rochester, Buffalo and Cleveland, and south to home) and driving back into the confines of Southeast Ohio was like traveling across the line between seasons, otherwise invisible save for the east-west route 70 that practically dispatched us from the gloomy winter of the north into the new life of spring in the south.

And so we arrived home, back to Athens, one week and 1,800 miles later. Spring break 2009 completed.

Sometimes college - and life in general - backs you into a corner, holing you up in one spot that can't easily be escaped. But the world is out there, life is out there, if only you attempt to look for it. Katie and I found it all over the northeast last week.

We found it in Cumberland, Maryland, a big town too compact for more than one hotel - which was fully booked with basketball players.

We found it just across the border from Maryland in Pennsylvania, parked on the side of a winding mountain where we could overlook the sleepy valley below.

We found it in Stamford, Connecticut, in the generosity and companionship found in time spent with my grandfather.

We found it in New York City, where everything seems to be bigger than you and pretends to be more important than you - and you're reminded of the joyous life you live away from the 'epicenter.'

We found it in the welcome center in New Hampshire just across the border from Massachusetts, where we collected enough brochures to wrap Lindsay's birthday present.

We found it in Biddeford, Maine, walking along the pristine, empty beaches with Lindsay, Mark, and Sydney, fighting the biting winds.

We found it in Portland, Maine, in the hard-to-find speakeasy where we could try new beers and find comfort away from the piercing cold winds.

We found it in Burlington, Vermont, in the seafood restaurant on the side of Lake Champlain where we grabbed lunch... and then later, traveling south from Burlington, as we stared at the Adirondacks on the other side of the lake.

We found it in Lake Placid, New York, where we scored a $40 bottle of wine for free (long story) and shared a delicious greek salad and hummus, all while admiring the mountains surrounding the quiet resort town.

And we found it in Saranac Lake, New York, where, despite (or because of?) a hotel straight from "The Shining," we managed to enjoy a trip to the top of a mountain, and saw the beautiful Young Life camp that changed my life.

Now, back at college for our last quarter in Athens, we remember there is life yet to be lived. That one spot that we might end up cornered in needs to be nothing more than temporary; with a curious spirit and a seeking heart, we can celebrate the beauty of life that was intended for us.

I've uploaded the rest of the pictures from our trip; click here to check them out.