SEA-EWR

Seattle rains, it washes away with the floods, its residents unperturbed and you, a snowflake, buried in the swell. I walked out to the cliffs to watch the sea hit the shore, to see mountains at least and something of the Great Beyond but all there was was cloud cover. I walked a thousand steep steps to the beach but there was nothing but monochrome outlines. The kindness of strangers grated at me, the sensible outerwear, the long silent days and nights; how I've longed for the rumble of a bus night, for a little madness and adventure. They write from Chicago and you count down days and hours.

At last the common motions of another unknown airport, at last the comforting smells and sounds and you look out the panoramic windows at the rain with contempt in your heart, but no matter. An hour later, in the dark American night, 10,000 feet above glittering cities and clear skies, how at ease you feel, how grateful for both the journey and its end. The road remains safely underneath you. You may have veered off track. But you know now at least how to return.