Have I told you lately, that I love you?

And I will give unto thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven …

It was the hour of four in the afternoon, and already in hillside homesteads the day was nearly done.

There was everywhere an air of that sweet, old-fashioned leisure which the world has nearly lost.

It lingered in the slant sunlight that threw shadows across the winding road...

— Florence Bone (1875–1971), The Morning of To‑Day, 1907

The Bridge of Angels (Ponte Sant’Angelo), leading to the Castel Sant’Angelo (Hadrian’s Castle)

It took me a half an hour to slowly traverse it :)
It was that beautiful.

Go thou to Rome,—at once the Paradise,

The grave, the city, and the wilderness;

And where its wrecks like shattered mountains rise,

And flowering weeds, and fragrant copses dress

The bones of Desolation’s nakedness

Pass, till the spirit of the spot shall lead

Thy footsteps to a slope of green access

Where, like an infant’s smile, over the dead

A light of laughing flowers along the grass is spread …

— Percy Bysshe Shelley, Adonais, 49.

Before I became old I tried to live well;

now that I am old, I shall try to die well;

but dying well means dying gladly.

— Seneca, Letter 61: On Meeting Death Cheerfully

“Trust that what brought you here

Will take you there.

The Infinite has no preferences.

It kisses both the darkness and

The light equally.”

— The Lost Writings of Wu Hsin

“It takes courage to do what you want. Other people have a lot of plans for you. Nobody wants you to do what you want to do. They want you to go on their trip, but you can do what you want. I did. I went into the woods and read for five years.”

— Joseph Campbell

Exactly why I went and spent a whole month in Europe. It’s not quite the “done thing” for folks like me. But I wanted to. So I did.

This apparently is my look of intense focus :)
My first husky ride.

And while I did have to focus and hang on for dear life, it was nearly an hour and a half of so much fun.¹

And the huskies were the friendliest doggies, I’ve met!

Have been too busy to write and so for the near future, I’ll put up photos.

As part of our journey across Europe, Abby and I decided to go husky sledding in Finland.
While my arms ached for days after, I absolutely loved the experience!
And even moreso, I fell in love with the huskies I rode with.
And as we were making our way home, I developed terrible husky withdrawal syndrome. By the time we reached Austria I was miserable :)

Abby, being the loving wife she is, got me this baby husky from a small curio shop in the Innsbruck Alstadt, as souvenir of my time there.