Taking stock

Here's what this year has given me, and I hope those of you whom I've visited have similar feelings:

• I traveled a total of 22,000 miles in 122 days, so I've been home just 100 days since I started my first trip February 16. With each successive trip I hope I've learned to go slower, take more detours, and visit longer. The trip that ended today was 2,262 miles in 14 days.
• I've visited more than 100 friends, new friends, and relatives, trying in my own way to make good use of what Rachel taught me about keeping and nurturing human connections. I intend to continue to work on this lesson even though the means from now on may be different. If I haven't visited you yet, you're on my list.
• Less important but still a happy memory are the places I've seen for the first time or revisited after a long absence. In these three trips I visited 42 states (including DC) and three Canadian provinces - nine of them for the first time, I believe. I've spent time in five of the remaining nine states in the past, and in two more provinces and (briefly) a territory in Canada. That leaves North Dakota, Oklahoma, Arkansas, and Hawaii. I may yet visit them, as well as the remaining Canadian provinces - if there are people to see there.
• I hope I have your e-mail address and phone number(s) or that we're Facebook friends so I can let my fingers do the walking when a trip isn't possible.