FAREWELL to the land where the clouds love to rest,

Like the shroud of the dead on the mountain's cold breast;

And the lake her lone bosom expands to the sky.



Name that Scottish literary reference...

I'm starting to get excited about going to Scotland. Vacations are good. Travel is good. Everything is good. The one thing I noticed this morning, as I looked at my passport on my counter this morning, I am beginning to be much more casual about international travel. I don't know when I crossed the threshold, but this trip to Scotland feels no different that my trip to San Fran or the cottage earlier this year. I can remember my previous trips to Europe (4 roundtrip transatlantic flights - not tons by any stretch of the imagination, but still...) and I was filled with much more nervous excitement than a typical domestic trip. This time its not like that. It feels almost "normal", well as "normal" as a week-long roadtrip-vacation to a place I've always wanted to go can be. Anyway, those are my thoughts.