What next? Maybe x-ray vision...

Well, I've been home for a few weeks, and for the most part things have been pretty low-key here. I've been getting plenty of outdoors time clearing brush from "the woods" here at my folks' place, and have gone on a number of really nice walks out in the pasture.

I've also been seeking out and applying for a lot of jobs, mostly in the aerospace field. I had a phone interview a while back, and will be going out to interview with the mission the middle of next month. It will be my first visit to New England, which should be interesting. I'm still waiting to hear back from all the other applications I've made, but am fairly used (now) to the wheels of hiring turning exceedingly slowly.

This past Friday evening I went over to Captain Drinkwater's in Strong City to watch Vegetable (the band my brother is in; see link at right) play a gig. The acoustics weren't that great, but it was fun to get to see them play live. I hadn't seen my bro play since one of his bands got to play before the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band at a Chingawassa Days celebration years ago. My dad was right when he said O could play bass like a lead (6-string) guitar.

Last night I watched "In the Shadow of the Moon" again, and can not recommend that documentary highly enough. It's pretty powerful stuff, getting to listen to people relate about their actual voyages to the moon. Hopefully I'll get to have a similarly "transporting" experience like that someday.

Ad astra per aspera.

Wrapping it up

OK, I've pulled out some photos from the remainder of my trip home. I've about shucked off the insidious influence of jet lag, and am feeling quite a bit better today.

Ceramic decorations at the Buddhist Wat Pho in Bangkok, said to be the originating place for Thai massage:

Ridiculously ornate spires of religious buildings at the Grand Palace. The one on the right houses the Emerald Buddha, which is actually made from a big hunk of jade. Go figure...

A bit less spruced up view of Poi Pet, which was the border town where we entered Cambodia:

The first light of day silhouettes the spires of Angkor Wat:

Tree roots both support and destroy the stones of the Ta Prohm temple, which was used in the movie "Tomb Raider":

The temple of Bayon has spires with four faces of one of the kings in each cardinal direction. This one was super cool:

The diminutive, but beautiful, Bantay Sreay. This Hindu temple was made with pink sandstone, and had some very intricate carvings that were in remarkable good condition. Hopefully they'll stay that way:

Portal inside Bantay Sreay:

Detail of some of Bantay Sreay's carvings; I don't know what the figures are supposed to be:

The floating homes of refugees (probably from Vietnam or Cambodians still displaced by the Khmer Rouge) at Tonle Sap lake:

Rice fields near Tonle Sap lake in Cambodia:


So, with that this chapter of the greater adventure (life) comes to a close. I'll keep blogging some here from home as cool stuff happens. I'll make no promises about how often that might come to pass, though. Should the employment gods smile on me with a neat job (sooner or later), you'll be the first to know! Best of luck to you all in the new year. May it be a healthy and productive one for us all.

Full Circle

Well, after a marathon trip from Cambodia to Kansas, I'm finally ensconced once more in my parents' barn for the foreseeable future. I haven't really had a chance to go back through photos from the last leg of my journey, but will do so once I feel a bit more human.