home again

There are few greater pleasures than returning home after an extendend absence. I'm comfortably ensconced in my bedroom once more, feeling quite content. The trip home yesterday was unremarkable, if long. I read an entire book on the return flight - Cormac McCarthy's No Country for Old Men. It's somewhat of a departure from his existential westerns - this is more along the lines of existential pulp fiction. The basic story is a tale of a man named Moss, who finds a suitcase full of drug money and claims it as his own, thereby setting off a chain of events with disastrous results. I loved it - once again McCarthy has written one of the most compelling and frightening villans in modern literature - this time a man named Chigurh. And the dialogue just sings. Take this passage, when Sheriff Bell arrives at a crime scene with multiple bodies...

Wendell leaned and spat. Somebody's been here before us.
I'd say so.
You think he was packin the money?
I'd say there's a good chance of it.
So we still ain't found the last man, have we?
Bell didn't answer. He rose and stood looking out over the country.
It's a mess, aint it Sheriff?
If it aint it'll do until a mess gets here.

p. 75, Knopf Advance Reader's Edition.

Can't you just hear Clint Eastwood spitting that out? Thankfully, the book made the time pass quickly and took my mind off the people who managed to recline their seats within a hair's breadth to my nose. Well, I could be exaggerating. But only a little.

I'm dog tired. I must've caught a cold on my way home last night, because my sinuses were so congested last night I could hardly breathe. It's a strange thing, to sleep with your mouth open. I'm not too keen on it, so I didn't sleep very well last night. Alarm went off at 7:05 and I don't think that I pulled myself out of bed until nearly 7:30. The pills I took for my allergies last night didn't help a bit, so I figure these are some Texas germs I picked up while eating an overpriced personal pan pizza at the Dallas-Fort Worth airport. I hope it passes soon. I need all the energy I can muster to get back in the saddle.

I downloaded the pictures I took while in Portland...not as many as I usually take, but I was happy with how they turned out. Here's a sampling.

The airport terminal in Moline.

Downtown Portland.

Portland Community College.

Mural at Rocco's Pizza.