New Places to Call Home.

"You will never be completely at home again, because part of your heart will always be elsewhere. That is the price you pay for the richness of loving and knowing people in more than one place."

-Miriam Adeney

This quote has become more and more a part of my life.  As I have moved, traveled, and lived in other places, I have met so many people and shared so many stories.  These stories helped shape the way I viewed the world.  What I love about traveling, even if its a few hours drive away, the culture of a place can be completely different.  I think of the immense differences between Sioux Falls and Rapid City.  One is a relatively flat small city surrounded by farm land.  The other is the gateway to the Black Hills.  Just about 2 hours west of Sioux Falls, the state seems to change from an agricultural center to some sort of land out of the old west.

As a person, these differences fascinate me and intrigue me.  I remember when my wife and I moved to Wichita and were suddenly in a southern cow town with BBQ places scattered throughout. My heart grew fond of every place I lived, and the friends I made there.  So, my heart has become scattered throughout the world to all the places I've been. 

Now, whenever I travel, I seem to be inundated with memories of all my past travels. It is nice to think of all the experiences I have had the blessing to have. It is nice to think of all the people I have met in my life and all the great times I had with them. I wanted to reflect on this quote because of where I live now.  I'm 1000's of mile away from most of my friends and family.  While I have the tools to keep in touch with them, sometimes I fail to use them as much as I should. I will try to do better to keep in touch.  I guess what I'm trying to say, is if you're looking for a fun place to travel and create new memories, come out to Florence and say hi, its a great place with amazing scenery. I can point you in the right direction. If you're lucky, hopefully your heart will find another to place to call home. I hope to see you soon.

Nothing Better than 4th of July in a Small Town

The 4th of July is one of my favorite holidays every year.  I always fondly remember all the trips to Inwood, Iowa to see the parade and the firework shows with my family.  As I grew older, the demolition derby in Inwood was one of my favorite things to do for the holiday.  Numerous firework shows and parades have made me very fond of this holiday and its not just because of the events, but because of what they represent.  I think small town celebrations are the best to partake in.  More people tend to make big city events crowded and hard to get around, so going to these can mean lots of waiting and dealing with crowds.

The 4th of July always made me reflect on my country, where it has been and where it is going.  I remember the small town parade enjoyed by hundreds of people from all walks of life. These people would stand for hours in the sun with their families waiting for candy and watching the floats go by.  Later on, everyone would go down to the park and stand in line to get derby tickets, and stand in line for food.  It was always awesome because everyone was there celebrating and having fun.  It always amazed me how all these different people could go here and enjoy each other, and the day.  Everyone came from a different walk of life, and here they were enjoying this.

I remember thinking about this as I prepared to have my first 4th of July celebration across the country here in Oregon. I needed to see if I could find that same feeling so far from home.  My family went to the boardwalk in Florence and ventured out into a new 4th of July celebration.  Here I was, walking along the Siuslaw River far from home, and the same feeling was there.  There were people from all walks of life enjoying the food and craft stalls.  Here you could buy fresh produce and seafood, just not as much burgers or pork as I'd find in Iowa.

It was an amazing feeling to be this far from home and yet seeing people celebrating the country that they live in.  Kids were eating popcorn, and playing with balloons.  The boardwalk had an educational flag display with state flags and old U.S. flags.  Boats were out on the river.  It made me reach the conclusion that our country is special.  It is incredible how people 1000's of miles away from each other, in towns everywhere, are out celebrating the same thing. People might not have anything in common except for living here, but they can all agree on how amazing this place is.  It was on this 4th of July, far from home, that I remembered just how special our country is and how important it is for all of us to get out there and experience every part of it we can.