Well, the female 2/3 of this family did manage to fly back to Vermont today.

It's hard to reconcile the reports I hear of weather in the northeast. Big snowfall, cold weather, Lake Champlain frozen ... while here Rich C and I were out exploring the cactus-covered Catalina Foothills in the hot sun at nearly 80 degrees. Is one of these scenarios just a special effect?

Emma had trouble understanding that it was two hours earlier here when I was talking to her on the phone tonight. In her end of the country it was dark and cold, while I was pacing around outside the Airstream in shirt-sleeve temperatures and watching the sun set slowly over Mexico.

I think I can relate to her confusion. Sometimes I'll reflect on the incredible diversity of this world. While I am occupying just one tiny pinprick on its surface, billions of little dramas are playing out in infinite climates and infinite settings. It both staggers and inspires my imagination.

The next two days are a chance for that sort of thinking. I find it useful. Time alone, whether here in the Airstream or out in the Foothills, is an opportunity to get a new perspective on things. It's also a great chance to work utterly undisturbed, so I'm getting a lot of editing done for the Summer magazine.

I have also been left a few tasks, since I'll be the last person out: eat the leftovers, put away the bikes, fill the propane tank, pick up the forwarded mail, and clean up the trailer. It feels a little sad to be sealing up the Airstream, perhaps because I hate to leave it behind for even a few days. It's like a glimpse into the future, to the end of our odyssey. Fortunately, we've got months to go -- even if we find a house -- before we'll move out of the Airstream.