N is for Not Here . . .

Not here, but there,
where yesterday resides.
I am visiting this rainy country
for a few, very few days,
not enough time
for more than half-remembered,
years-old conversations to resonate
as we drive up and back
along the 99W corridor,
dipping into concentric circles
of friends known once quite well,
the sweep of the Willamette Valley
rising to coastal mountains in the west,
Marys Peak, a gray shadow,
and unexpected sunshine ahead.
By the weekend, we’ll turn north
and home, feeling stretched,
a little unravelled, well-travelled,
yet still here and there.

"On Marys Peak" by Chris Ten Eyck (Flickr)

I've hiked on Marys Peak near Corvallis, but not this time. We're on the road again and headed to Portland and Fort Vancouver for research on the Hudson's Bay Company for that third book, and, yes, visiting friends along the way. I'm trying to keep up with that poem a day for the Blogging A-to-Z Challenge. Visit HERE to see what others have written.