Back from a Trip

I went east to visit relatives last week. The first part of the week was sitting around my brother and sister-in-law's house in Upper New York State, talking, reading, writing and playing with the five cats.

The second part of the week involved a trek to Washington by train to see an art exhibit. I hadn't been in Washington for decades. We were in Georgetown, which is very clean and prosperous, full of government office buildings and foreign embassies. It didn't look like an American city -- too clean and well maintained, with too much official architecture.

My brother pointed out that much of Washington was not prosperous.

I don't travel especially well, though I find the experiences I have while traveling give me a lot to think about. More than anything else, I get a sense of who I am and what my life is like. Being away from home gives me a perspective. And I get images and ideas I can use in my writing.

I took a computer with me, a small netbook. It's the first time I've taken a computer through airport security. No problems there. I went through one of the new scanners that takes pictures of your undies, since I thought it would be simpler than asking for a pat down. However, a security person felt my breasts after the photo was taken, and I got my hands wiped with some kind of damp tissue. No explanation was given. I don't know if it was a random check, or if I need to buy a new kind of bra.

So what did I learn on this trip? Our capitol doesn't look like an American city, and traveling in America is kind of humiliating.