This trip has been really incredible so far. Very productive, very relaxing these last two days especially, and still with much to look forward to.

In particular, today I went out on a kayak (I'm staying with some friends who live right on the river) and had some alone time with nature (not even realizing it was Earth Day until later on)... saw SO many birds, including a brightly colored woodpecker, some black and white bird I couldn't recognize but that was just gorgeous, lots of storks and egrets with wingspans greater than my height, and anhingas. A bunch of snake-like anhinga head-and-necks sticking out of the water, watching for jumping fish. One anhinga sitting on a dock, who crawled along (fetal-position-like) to the edge of the dock and slid into the water, more like a young child diving than the way I normally see these majestic birds dive in from great heights.

I also got within about 4 feet of a gator about that same length. Being in a relatively unstable kayak, I really didn't want to get any closer, though I may have been more tempted if I had had my camera with me. But where there is a (young) four-footer, there may be a much larger gator around who could easily knock my kayak over, so I figured I would flip a u-turn and paddle away discreetly.

It was a marvelous day. Finished all of that up with dinner at another family's house, made special for me, and absolutely delicious. And lots of chatting as if everything is normal and I'm just home from college or something.

Tomorrow, I'll grab Sean so we can kick around St. Augustine for a while, and then I'll head out for Lousy-anna for the weekend... in less than two weeks I graduate, and in less than two weeks I return to my Middle Eastern home.

What I have realized on this trip is that there are many things I didn't even think about that we don't have over there and I didn't miss until I got back for a visit (especially a temporary return), and also that there are many things we have there and don't have here that I miss already and am looking forward to getting back.