Discovering The Home of Our Hearts

To think that this is the last entry on the amazing sojourn that Chip and I experienced on The Great Circle Loop is probably the biggest reason why it has taken me so long to sit down and write it out and publish it....How does one sum up 31 months and nearly 7,000 miles in one last blog post? I was worried as each day passed that I might somehow lose the emotional energy that those last few days on the loop were charged with...We got home about 3 weeks ago, and quite honestly, we haven't stopped long enough to really put all of our thoughts down on paper...but, the emotions haven't quieted themselves down at all...in fact, it is possible, the joy of the experience has only since intensified with every retelling of a story from our wonderful adventure...and so, please allow me these last few words about our trip which took us to places we never thought we would ever see, and worlds within ourselves that we didn't know existed...

~We are not the same people we were when this journey began---that is one thing for sure I can tell you will happen if you ever decide to jump off the ledge in life where you look out onto a horizon with a longing in your soul to see more of our beautiful planet, But beware...once you have touched the other side, there is no coming back to where you began---of course, I mean that totally in a metaphoric way...We are so happy to be home, but it is truly the home of our hearts that we discovered on ithaka...and man, what a beautiful place it is...

~Some say what we did took a lot of courage...I never thought of it as courageous...You see, I've knelt beside the well at the home of Helen Keller where as a small child she came to understand her first word, water...and while gazing all around me I saw the blue sky, the flowers in the gardens, the magnolia trees that were planted before she was ever born--I listened to the birds sing--knowing that she never experienced the simple gift of gazing into her mother's eyes, yet went on to publicly speak around the world and inspire people everywhere--Our journey pales in comparison when you think and try to imagine her world of dark silence...

~I have walked through the halls of the shrine of the multitudes who at Ellis Island 16 million immigrants crossed over the threshold of America having risked everything in pursuit of a dream---sailed across a great ocean with all their worldly possessions wrapped in a blanket---How could our journey in a comfortable trawler ever compare, how could it ever be described as brave and ambitious when we think of our ancestors and their vision of the Statue of Liberty as they arrived in their new home...

~My best memories you ask? --There are too many to have a favorite. I sang the national anthem in the city where it was written as I watched my Yankees play the Orioles in Camden Yard...and sat in the stands at Doubleday field where our national pastime began....We visited West Point, and Annapolis...and countless forts and battlefields from both the Revolutionary War and the Civil War...Shiloh, Fort Sumter, Fort Stanwix, Williamsburg, Yorktown. --Countless churches and cemeteries...lighthouses and landmarks...galleries and studios...locks and a chute and lakes and gorges...even a carp barrier...farmer's markets, even fond memories of Super Wal-marts (fellow loopers will understand)...We've been through tropical storms and micro bursts, 8' seas, fog and rain...but mostly sunny days. --We've hiked across Cumberland Island as feral horses ran right beside us and biked around Jekell Island where we visited mansions from yesteryear......we picked wild blueberries & fished in the north channel where granite islands were pink and mauve...cruised up the Hudson River past countryside so breathtakingly beautiful we no longer need wonder how the great River Valley artists were so inspired...We touched the doorknob to the office where FDR gave his fireside chats...We've seen the changing leaves along the Tennessee River as ancient mountains rose up along side us...we walked in sand drifts as white as snow in the Florida panhandle...took the dinghy to hidden treasures, up quiet rivers and around the bends...and cruised through water along Lake Michigan that rivals the Caribbean in its clear blue color...I've left a thousand things out!

~Most of all, life is all about the relationships we create and hold dear, and the loop is no different...So, here's to those that met us along the way (in order of appearance)--Jack & Holly...our friend Leigh...Fern of course, she met us twice! ~and Aunt Dot & Uncle George...my brother Joey and my dear friend Fred...Frank & Denise and their family...Uncle Bill...Gil & Pam...Art & Sharon, Brandy, David & Leonardo, Chino & Yvonne...Carol, Uncle Joe, Tim & Betty, Ed & Marcia...and we cannot forget the new friends we made along the way...Milt & Fran...Guy and Peggy...James and Renny...and countless other loopers who, when any of us saw that AGLCA burgee flying, we knew we'd soon be making another new friend! ~and then there are those who also became family...like Bill & Eileen on the BlueMax and Bud, Muriel & Shelly on Sunshine...

~Yes, it is about the journey--not the destination, but for what it is worth...the destination, as it turns out, is not a place afterall, but rather a feeling inside of us at the depth of our being, a new way of seeing the oneness of our planet and the lovely connectedness of it all.

...and we can't wait to do it all again!