Something to Remember

Well, at last it has happened:I’m back! Butterblogger, my friends, has returned.

When last you heard from me I was in Rome headed home. And frankly, I wasn’t doing well. The journey was fine, but my teeth hurt from the fall, I couldn’t properly eat, and I just generally felt terrible.

The intervening months have been challenging. I’ve had 2 root canals on injured teeth, and I currently bear a temporary crown on my central incisors. I have battled the challenges of concussion and I have canceled my annual dive trip (one shouldn’t dive after a head injury). It’s been rough.

And layered upon all of this has been work, where the exhaustion and burnout have settled heavily into my spirit, grinding away at my resilience.

I would say that my defenses are crumbling, but that is overly optimistic if I am to be honest. At this point my shields are down and my defenses have failed utterly.

Now I’m headed out on a trip that has been on the books for over half a year. I love preparing for and arranging my trips yet I could barely motivate myself to prepare for this one until just a few days ago.

And yet hope springs anew and unexpectedly. Early this afternoon my plane lifted off from the runway at Detroit Metropolitan Airport, disappearing into the clouds, taking me with it. For a time, the world was entirely obscured in an opaque haze of white, and then we burst out on the other side. We soared high, well above the murk, jetting into the azure dome of the sky, where the sun offered forth her unabashed and unabated illumination without opposition. She would not be denied.

And slowly, once more, I am ready to travel.

I am on a journey once again to the land of my grandfather.

I go on this trip seeking remnants of the ancient world.

I go seeking food.

And I go in search of joy.

Most of all, however, in the wake of a head injury that continues to demand care, I go in search of hope.

There is always hope. It may not be the hope we expected, but it is there, and I’m finally ready for it.

I love you all, my friends and readers. Join me now for a few days in northern Greece, with food and history. And hope – we must never forget to find our hope.