Visa applications in the mail

The count is 37 days now. We posted our visa applications in the mail on Monday....its starting to sink in, and with every big thing comes moments of excitement, and moments of fear.

Today I was walking back from downtown Portland. Went across the Hawthorne Bridge and down to the esplanade by the water. It was a sunny fall day and the water glistened. People were out walking, running, and biking. I had a sense of how nice it is to be here in this town with these people who are so interested in the environment and living some shade of "green." I don't know what it'll be like in South Africa. I know recycling can be hard to come by, and it isn't always safe to bike. Its a very car-oriented country, and taking the bus is often an adventure requiring at least 0.5mg of Ativan. But if I just stayed where I was comfortable, living amongst people who shared the same ideas as me, I wouldn't be making as much of a difference as I could if I went someplace where I could make a difference. But its a sense of leaving the warmth of the womb into the cold rain.

But its the rain that brings forth plant growth and flowers. And the sun always comes out eventually following a storm.