"Corey's Home", mixed media, digitally manipulated, by Kerry McFall

The wandering daughter has returned briefly from Peru, bringing with her the equivalent of the contents of Santa’s Sleigh.  This afternoon during a vain attempt to clean off the piano, these random bits called out to me: the granadilla fruit sent by her friend Moises, a bird whistle/bubbler that could double as a Christmas ornament, chocolate-covered almonds, the infamous Peruvian tea, a 100 sole bill (not a lot of money but it looks impressive), and her passport.  As I arranged things, the passport fell open and those very faint red and white stripes on the pages kind of glowed… She’ll get to vote while she’s here (in Oregon we vote by mail, thank goodness, so the ballot will arrive before she leaves).  Living abroad makes voting take on a different perspective, makes it seem more urgent.  Sometimes this country holds up well compared to others… other times, not so much.  These are perhaps the “interesting times” (as in the ancient curse, “May you live in interesting times.”)

She says it’s good to be home, she’s enjoying the hot showers and the functional plumbing, the cheddar cheese and the Northwest beer, driving again for the first time in nearly six months.  But I can tell Peru is calling to her.  While she’s here we’ll have Thanksgiving, birthdays, Halloween, and Christmas all rolled into one because her travel-related job requires her to be down there during the entire holiday season.  If all goes according to plan, we’ll be making a visit down there in 2013, altitude in Cusco be damned!