Aloha, Hey Y'all, and Ainngai

That's 'hello' in Hawaii, the South, and Alaska (Inuit).

I often forget how diverse this country is-which is really sad, when I consider that I drove from North Carolina to Washington State not even 18 months ago.  But...I do.

Simon and I have done a fair amount of travel in the US this year-and explicitly tried to tick off a few states he hasn't been to-Alaska and Hawaii-both of which are fairly convenient to reach from Seattle.  Throw in a trip to the South to go visit family...and we've covered a fair amount of geographic and cultural diversity in this country this year.

I've been to Alaska numerous times, and Hawaii once previously-so I knew what to expect in terms of the topography, people, food, weather...everything. But, I couldn't help but be struck by Simon's reaction as we got stuck into these places this past year (most recently, just last month)-and observe the wonder with which he looks at the US sometimes.  By hopping on a flight for a few hours to go to a different state-it can very much be like travelling to a different country.

Sometimes I think that being married to Simon must be what it's like to have a child-and constantly be forced to look at something thru the the eyes of never seeing or experiencing it before-and I am infinitely thankful for the forcing function.  The list of these firsts hasn't gone down in the past 18 months, only evolved.  I'm sure it will continue to evolve in 2014, and I really look forward to seeing something I've already seen before thru a fresh pair of eyes.

(kicks self for taking US for granted)