It's the last day. Tomorrow I'm back in the office. I've had three months of extraordinary experiences, and tomorrow I'll continue my extraordinary adventures while I'm back to the daily living of work around here.

I had a little drama here at the end. After a couple wonderful days in Kansas City I was at the Kansas City airport, ready for my flight back home. Every few minutes, over the loudspeaker, we heard an announcement for the person who left the pickup truck curbside to move it. I even noticed the truck sitting abandoned near a door into the airport. These announcements continued for over a half an hour. I was sitting near my gate, ready to get on my plane when they announced they were evacuating the terminal, and we had to leave the building immediately. I checked the news on my phone and found someone claimed there was a bomb on the abandoned truck. They marched us away from the terminal to a parking lot where there were buses ready to whisk us away. Emergency vehicles and lights are all over the place. I held off getting on the bus because I didn't know where they were going or how I'd get back. Eventually they tell us we all have to get on, so on the bus I went to another terminal in the airport. We waited there for over an hour, not knowing what was happening. When I was sure I wasn't leaving there that night, an announcement came over the speakers saying we could go back to our original terminal. Back on the buses we went and through security (again), where the plane was still waiting for me. Well over two hours after I was to leave my plane finally got off the ground. The pilot on the plane said they didn't know any more about what happened than we did.

I started this blog to narrate my sabbatical experiences, and since the sabbatical is ending I could end things here. I've enjoyed writing here, though, and I'd like to keep things going. Over the next couple weeks I'm hoping to do some summaries of what I've learned here. Then I'm going to make a transition to blogging my way through the Rule of St. Benedict. I'm going to take little bits of the Rule and offer commentary and wisdom for regular living. If that sort of thing is curious to you, I hope you'll keep following along.

I'm a little sad that it's ending, but I'm still so happy and thankful for what this summer has given me. I'm doing a little dance of joy here at my house for all that has happened this summer, and I can't wait to share a little of that joy in the regular life to which I'm returning. Henry David Thoreau said, "I have traveled a great deal in Concord," meaning, I think, that although he didn't get out beyond Concord, New Hampshire much he still traveled in learning and experiencing all the extraordinary things right around his home. My travels continue, only I'm staying around home for them now, and I know there's all kinds of joy waiting for me in them.