I worked a crossword puzzle on the plane yesterday that contained a wonderful quote from St. Augustine:

"The world is a book and those who do not travel read only one page."

Maybe it resonated with me solely because I am a traveler, but nevertheless I found it to be powerfully true. There are so many things I can think of that I'd never have known had I not ventured from the borders of my home country, or even those of my home state. Of course the methods of travel now are so much better than those offered in Augustine's day -- I can't imagine travelling so much if I'd had to walk everywhere!

I must confess to a sense of euphoria yesterday when I arrived at the Seattle airport after a mere hour's flight and didn't have to rush to find the gate for the next leg of my journey. I guess that means I'm ready to let grass grow under my feet in Boise...at least for a few months. Within the past year I've seen a lot of our country from the window of an RV, with trips to Israel, Jordan, Egypt, Morocco, Senegal and Spain thrown in for a little variety. And what a beautiful, complex, engaging and a little sad world it is. Definitely a book worth reading in as much detail as possible.

Which reminds me -- I realized while in Spain that my historical education about that part of the world was sadly lacking. I've read loads of history and biography about the United States and England, but next to nothing about Africa and Europe in general. I was fascinated by the brief history lessons I got from my Costa Rican hosts as we roared through thousands of acres of olive trees in Spain <Spain is the number one olive oil producer in the world, one of multitudinous facts I'd never heard about that country>. My interest was peaked and I'm getting ready to make an Amazon order...if you've got any suggestions about where to start, please let me know!