This is what I found when I returned to my cube this morning:

The plaques around the edge are various “degrees”, apparently to go with my other three (which are at home, not in my cube) in with such impressive sounding names as “Master of Gaseous Expulsion” and “Master of Smug Superiority”.  There was even a “Bachelor of Freak Dancing” from Brigham Young (they know their dancing in Utah).  Besides the all the boxes and other junk placed inside, there were also tiny Ohio State insignia leaflets scattered about (thanks Jeff).

My first day back was not especially surreal or depressing, just another day at the sawmill.   I have a lot to catch up on . . . and get right back in the saddle with a trip to Oregon this week.

Some have asked about the future of this “blog”.   This site has historically carried the tagline “free of blog-like substance”, though it was on hiatus of late in lieu of 37 sabbatical related entries in 8 weeks.  This was by design – I don’t have the passion for writing necessary to really make this work on an continous basis, (especially in the face of a peer like Dave).  There are two fundamental issues – the first is one of ideas.  Despite my extroverted nature, I just don’t have that much I need to share with the world each day.   I had inspiration for this travel journal, but sabbatical is over.  The second issue is one of motivation, especially over the long term – it took me at least an hour or so to do each of these entries, and even then I didn’t find the passion and energy to make them as well written and engaging as I really wanted to (Cynthia is a better writer and it comes much easier to her).  So, the frequency will go down as my life returns to mundane normalcy, but if I come up with something else feel inspired to share, I will.   Certainly, this will not be the last travel journal, and I’ll continue to post pictures as I always have.

So, some final words about sabbatical.  I didn’t describe absolutely everything that’s been going on, but feel like I made the most of the time.  I went the all places and wanted to go and had enough downtime to recover and hang out.  It’s an addictive but ultimately unrealistic lifestyle.  That’s what made going back into work today bearable – no regrets.

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