Day 141

I just got back from Olympia. Evergreen is an amazing college. My son described it as more hippie commune than traditional college. It's just the kind of place I once imagined myself teaching. I called Bill as I sat in the native plants garden outside the Native American longhouse. He was probably sensing my intoxication with the place when he asked, "So are you going to go by the human resources office? Maybe there's a teaching position for you there." A few years ago this thought would have set my heart racing. What has changed? Have I moved on or simply given up on my dreams?

I am not a member of the community of scholars, the elite club that inhabits academia. I was unwilling to pay the price of admission. Visiting Evergreen tested my level of comfort with that decision. I think I made the right decision, at least for now. Being a college professor, even in a place like Evergreen, can't compete with the life I am creating here in the Palouse. I knew that as soon as I rounded the corner and saw Moscow cloaked in dappled mountains. I was home.