I spent today in Happy Valley for Arts Fest, driving up from Washington in the morning and back home in the evening. The trip turned out to be an excruciating one. It’s always people, and never places or things, that matter.

But if you’re not with friends or loved ones, being alone in God’s creation with the space to breathe isn’t necessarily the worst place to be. This has turned out to be a small way, and certainly not the most important way, to be close to God, but it’s something.