Well, another year has gone by without my posting.  Clearly, I'm not such a good blogger.  But this has been a crazy, wonderful, busy year, filled with new places, new friends, and new experiences.

I fulfilled a bucket list wish and finally made my trip to Italy.  It was so amazingly full of sights and sounds that it's difficult to single out one or two, but I'll try.  One of my favorite places in Rome was the Piazza Navona.  It was a gathering spot for all of Rome, and not just for tourists.  It was enchanting and exciting, relaxing and renewing, inspiring and meditative.  All at once!

I saw street performers, street artists, jugglers and magicians.  But I also saw families, people going home from work, and visitors from war and wide.

One night, in a small area, there was a cacophony of languages that must've rivaled the Tower of Babel.  All of it was so interesting.  And the food!  The cafes!  All of it wove its magic in me and around me.  I surely threw those coins in the fountain so that I would return one day.

Of course, I also visited the typical sights, including the Vatican (the grounds of which are shown in the photo to the left, with St. Peter's Dome in the background), St. Peter's Basilica, the Square, the Piazza de Republica, the Pantheon, Trajan's Column, Trevi Fountain and the Spanish Steps.  But we also went to the Catacombs and St. Paul's Outside the Walls, which was one of my favorite places of all, not the least because its ceilings were spectacular as can be seen in the picture below.

I rode the hop on hop off bus, traveled in taxis, met people from Rome and the countryside, and really, really loved being in La Bella Italia.  It didn't hurt that I ate pretty doggone well, too.  Some day, I hope to return to Rome...to sit in the sidewalk cafes, to meet people, to watch the world go by, and to fall in love all over again with this wondrous, magical, fascinating place!

It's been nearly 10 years ago that I spent the summer in the Tetons.  I was fortunate enough to serve as a Chaplain there in the summer of 2005.  I find myself missing those wonderful mountains and all the special places I would go in the Park...places that called to me when I wanted time alone or time with God...time to ponder the beauties of this world and time to seek answers.

Here I am 9 years later, still pondering and seeking, longing for the grandeur of the mountains, the serenity of the lakes, and mostly for the peace and solitude that comes with wide open spaces.

Recently, a friend suggested that I am really a soul who belongs in the West.  I think she's right. Places like Wyoming, Alaska, Montana, Oregon and even the red rocks of Arizona and Utah seem to call to me.  So this week, I find myself wondering about where I really belong in the grand scheme of things.  Where...on so many levels.

One thing's for sure.  I'm a lousy blogger.  This is my first post since 2010.  In that time, I've learned that pilgrimages can be 2,000 miles away in the Tetons, 6,400 miles away in Israel, or 64 feet away in my own backyard.  Pilgrimages are more a state of mind than a location.   For that, I am grateful, because it means I can make pilgrimages often.  I hope to make more pilgrimages to distant places where I can learn and experience new things.  But I also hope to relish the chance -- each day -- to go on a pilgrimage of learning more, growing more and loving more.  And I surely hope to take some folks along on these journeys.