What's in Store

As the past few weeks have been more than a little insane I have neglected, sometimes consciously, sometimes not, to lay out my plans. This is due in part to the fact that a dirth of information made plans difficult to make, but also that a disinclination to "figure things out" weighed me down. It seems that now would be a good time to rectify this situation. Clairity is flowing at the moment.

Today I will purchase my ticket home; there will be a short stopover in Taipei to visit a former volunteer studying Chinese there - it will be nice to drop by and see her. March 31st I'll fly from Manila and arrive in Seattle on April 6th. Almost two weeks of unstructured time remain to be spent in the Philippines; that space is slowly taking form. With a few other recently COSed volunteers I will fly to Dumagete City on Negros, visit Siquijor and perhaps Siragao for a brief tour of the southern Visayas/Northern Mindanao. The irony that I lived in an island nation, yet rarely seeing a beach, will be corrected in the next two weeks. Hammocks, books, writing, and cold beer are my only priorities at the moment.

After arriving in Seattle Kari Ann and I will house sit for almost two months. During that time I plan to change residency from Wisconsin to Washington (still eating cheese), look for jobs and housing, and try to adjust to life - or at least learn to live with it. There should be an excursion to Ontario for canoeing in early June. Then comes full fledged Midwest time. Kenosha, Chicago, Holcombe, the Twin Cities will all pass under my feet until sometime in September when mountains, fall micro-brews, and possibly work pulls westward once again. After September things get a little hazy, but this suits me just fine. At this point I need few definites; they will come in time.

I feel good about these plans; solid enough for direction, flexible enough for change.