Walking the newly icy, one foot width path to my car, I can imagine how mountain goats feel when they face their first climb. Except perhaps they have a greater distance to fall. The rain has made ridges and bumps and grooves into the ice path that makes it almost unwalkable for even the most daring. But I shuffled along it anyway, leaning against the wall of my house and hoping that each foot will stay in its place.

Here at work, hearing a dialect that I am beginning to understand, I remember how much of this journey has been trying to do just that. There is so much to learn, to see, to visit. Perhaps it is those who feel in a rut, who feel that they can go through their day with their eyes closed, perhaps it is those who need to take courage and venture forth. To go to a land where they do not understand the meanings, and try to find some sort of harmony with the locals. To taste something that they can not recognize nor can begin to name, to be forced to find their own definitions. Its the inaudible things that get you.

Perhaps that is why I love this place. Because when I wake each morning I know that today will bring something new and unfamiliar. A learning experience, maybe a smile, I might end up in tears, I might end up screaming, but I know I will feel something before my day is done. In life we are only visiting and there is a whole world out there to explore, it is time to open your eyes.

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