the tragedy of lake mead

We are making our way from Los Angeles to Chicago right now and we've decided to take a few detours and see the sights. One of which was supposed to be the man-made wonder that is Lake Mead Recreation Park. Unfortunately, we drove all the way down the boat launch and still weren't in the water, even though the GPS had us placed squarely in the blue.

Global warming at work I suppose, or perhaps just mankinds folly in thinking that they can divert a river and make it into a lake all in the middle of the desert. And we wonder why we have ecological problems throughout this country. Next thing you know, they're going to want to divert all of the fresh water from Lake Michigan to the water starved metropolises out West. I say NO! go live somewhere that water doesn't evaporate year round.

That's my thought anyway. Well, onto Zion National Park.

The Return

I am officially back in Chicago. And the only word for how I'm feeling right now is surreal. I'd like to go back to Germany please. Or at least go on vacation. Somehow I don't think my three week trip to El Salvador is going to come soon enough.

Last Day of Work

Well, that's that. Yesterday I finished up with work and am just about to embark on the madness of packing up my life here in Frankfurt. It's hard to believe that it's all over actually. I have one week of packing madness here and then many weeks of unpacking madness complimented by my dad's own unique brand of insanity. Here's hoping I stay sane through it all.

It's been a remarkable experience here in Frankfurt. In fact, I enjoyed this job more in the last year and a half than I have in a very long time. It's definitely due in no small part to the people that I had the opportunity to work with. Right to the end they managed to exceed all of my expectations whether it was taking extra time to be thoughtful about my review and how I could build on my experiences to giving me a leaving do that was more than almost anything I could have hoped for complete with my very own Schultutte (first day of school dealy) and a map where I could pin all of my travels in the last year.

More than anything, I feel like I'm leaving this job, this office actually, with new friends that I'll have drifting in and out of my life for a long, long time. I'm very lucky that way.

So, onto the packing madness I suppose.