Bus Tour Results

I’m returning from my three-day bus tour today. As critical as I tend to be, I found something here, in this rural, humble state, that I needed to rediscover: humility, hard work, hope, and real joy. I met politicians, real politicians, who melted some of my cynical assumptions about the efficacy of politics. I met administrators who have begun to change my rather defensive posture towards institutional life. I saw real people, people who treated me with dignity and respect, but also a healthy dose of skepticism and questions. I was forced to live a little, in a way I had perhaps forgotten in the recent past. It was an ordinary, imperfect time — I was especially imperfect when I over-slept this morning, delaying the whole trip by a half-hour — but a beautiful one, in little, simple ways. My family and my work are blessed to be where we are. I am truly grateful. SR