It is, no doubt, the result of having lived such a full, chaotic life. But still I am a bit surprised at how much I enjoy spending time alone. I can fill entire weeks with the quietude of this house, empty but for the dog and me. I wander around, doing a little of this and a little of that, and before I know it I have run out of day and night and still haven’t experienced a single moment of lonely.

And yet I faced this Tim Departure with dread. It was to be another three week trip. He would be so far away—South Africa—with a wildly inconvenient seven-hour time difference. And it would be December.

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Zero days to go, he said last Tuesday, a game we play when he is on the road. I am in Medupi now. Today I get on the plane for Johannesburg, work there Wednesday, then leave for Atlanta Thursday night. That means I’ve already started the traveling home part of the trip, and that makes it zero days. Can’t wait to see you Friday.

Now, it is Christmas.

30 Days of Joy