What I miss about the topmost hemisphere

It’s been 3 months to the day since I got back from my month long European odyssey, and because of this I decided to go back through some of the 1600 photos that were captured during this time. This stirred up a variety of emotions, but most powerfully I found it very interesting to learn that the times that I look back upon with the greatest level of fondness are not the myriad of amazing structures and human achievements that I was lucky enough to be able to see first hand. No, the experiences that really typify the fun that I had overseas are the smallest, most seemingly insignificant events, places, and people.

For example, when I think of Paris, my first thoughts are not of the Eiffel Tower, not of the Louvre, but I remember walking down Boulevard de Magenta towards this tiny little liquor store that we found to buy big cans of Leffe, Hoegaarden, and the infamous Amsterdam Maximator. When I think of London, I smile when I recall walking out of the Bayswater tube station up to street level and seeing my first glimpse of the northern hemisphere from street level on foot. When I think of Rome, I think not of the Colosseum, but of gazing out of the third story window of my hotel after numerous longnecks of Birra Moretti into the hot Italian night, and wondering what the people that I was watching were heading home to.

I could go on and on and list everywhere I went, but I think I’ve made my point. I think the same goes for anything in life. The memories we cherish the most are the day to day things; the things we don’t even give a moments thought to while they are taking place. These are the things that occur while we are on our way to “more important” things, but ironically end up meaning so much more after years have passed.

When I really think about it, the best moments of my life are probably of tiny little things. And I look forward to many more of these simple pleasures.

Satisfied after a pleasant session of reflective gushing,

- Moff