It's Better in Wyoming.

Last weekend I made a quick trip up to Newcastle to see my grandparents, who were up from Arizona to visit my dad and see some other Black Hills family.  On the way back, I took the Glendo cut-across--a sweet little road that runs from the Hartville Highway (270) over to I-25, across the Glendo dam.  The first 10 miles or so is gravel, and it's some amazing country.  Here's a picture I took with my cell phone camera.  Big sky! Country roads! Antelope and deer roaming the bar-ditches! Sweetdamn! It's better in Wyoming. 

I've been back now, for a bit over two weeks.  I'm embarrassed to have failed, so far, to post about and reflect on the trip back, the sense of "homecoming," and life since being back in town.  What can I say, except: things have been busy. Laramie is spectacular in the summer.  Being away reminds me how much I've missed.  About two days after getting back to town, Maggie and I were out for a walk on a perfect Laramie night--about 75 degrees, the gentlest of breezes, and clear air in every direction.  Nights like these make me happy to call Laramie home. Last night, while at the new-faculty orientation dinner, we were temporarily driven into the dean's garage by a drive-by storm with surprisingly close thunder and lightning as well as a bright double-rainbow.  The walk home looked like this: Damn: I love this place. More to come, I promise.  Somehow the first week of classes (next week) seems like it will be peaceful in comparison to the whirlwind of