I wish it happened more, but it’s only every so often that the appreciation of little things seems to really exhilarate me.
But each of the last two nights I have been able to go to sleep with the window open – letting in fresh air, falling asleep to the sound of the rain, and waking up to the sound of birds chirping.

Little things, but man have I enjoyed it.

So, I did some math yesterday. In the last three months (between August 24 and November 25) I have been to Afghanistan, taken two trips back to Ohio, two to chicago, two to Florida, and one to Dallas. All told, right after moving into a new house, I have been gone 34 days, attended two conferences, performed my cousins wedding, and finished instructing my first course at Fuller. Yeah, I am glad to be home for a while.
I am in the process of upgrading my blog to include the IntenseDebate plugin. I think this will be a helpful tool for commenting in the future (or maybe not, in which case, we’ll go old school). But, while it is doing its thing, it seems that existing comments are unavailable and perhaps new ones won’t show up right away. All should be back to normal in a few hours.
The Oil ferry visited Memphis, thanks Oil ferry.

I LOVE THE FALL. There is just no two ways about it, I look forward to it all year long and it always ends far too quickly. Today was the first day of fall and it was a great start.
For starters, I found my Tracy Chapman album (New Beginning) from college. I played this thing to death and today it emerged from the depths of my stuff as a timely surprise. Here’s my favorite track off the album,
Then it was off to a party with some friends, complete with warm cider, pumpkin carving, and my personal favorite, baked pumpkin seeds.
It was a beautiful evening, 72 and clear. There was great conversation, Corn Hole, and that little extra something in the air that just makes the world feel like a better place. See, told you I love the fall.