The Invisible Aliens are Not In DuBuque

Damn! I still didn’t find the invisible aliens.

However, I did find something that I’d been missing for quite a while: real relaxation. You know how sometimes you don’t even realize how stressed you’ve been feeling until you get away for a while? Yep, that’s how I felt.

On this three-day voyage, Iwanski and I traveled through Northern Illinois, into Iowa (ooo, Iowa!), and then through Southwest Wisconsin. We saw beautiful green hills and valleys, pastures with cows lazily grazing, and forests with the occasional deer venturing out into the open. We even saw a bald eagle carrying his prey (perhaps a snake) over the treetops. We did some real hiking, and some real relaxing. It was just beautiful.

And at night, we retired to our hotel to swim in the pool and kick back with a couple of cold beers while we listened to some country and bluegrass music. Ahhh…this was the life.

Now we’re back in the city, in the place of beautiful manmade “hills” known as the Sears Tower and the John Hancock Building. It’s the place of city parks, where pigeons graze on the popcorn or corn chips somebody left behind, and of metal rails with the occasional subway rat venturing out into the open. It’s the place where we often see seagulls soar over the rooftops of buildings, in search of their next meal.

And I love it, too. I just need to remember that it’s just as important to relax here in the city as it was in the country.

Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’m going to crack open a couple of cold beers and listen to some hip-hop music.

Ahhh…home sweet home.