"...to rid ourselves of idols, and live in the real world." --Kathleen Norris

I am journeying to Vancouver this evening to pay a visit to my brother for Thanksgiving. It's a long journey of many hours. Ferry and restaurant reservations have been made--how will the day play out?

There will be some quiet conversation when we arrive late at night, and perhaps some television; but I hope to get a good night's sleep (rarely happens on these visits) so I will make sure to bring blankets and a pillow (and earmuffs perhaps). On the morrow, there will be more conversation, perhaps some television, lunch at a restaurant, conversation, hopefully no shopping, and then the journey home. There will be times of togetherness and aloneness, cheerful banter and quietness. I promise myself not to lose myself in books but to open my eyes over the course of the journey, to be fully alive and conscious of these rare sights and places, to be fully present and listening to the people I'm with, whom I so rarely spend time with.