"Well, I'm back," he said.

   With those words J.R.R. Tolkien ended his 1300 odd page epic The Lord Of The Rings, and managed, in one short sentence, to sum up the meaning of the entire work. At one point, late last week, while ruminating on the rapidly approaching date of our departure from Sicily, my wife made a comment to the effect that it (our vacation) was almost over. Her Uncle Mario smiled, and told her that nothing is ever really over. I don't know if Mario has read Tolkien, but it wouldn't at all surprise me. While Sam Gamgee's words mark the ending of a story, they do not mark the ending of the story.
   I filled about 45 pages in a notebook with opinions and observations during the trip, which I will try to arrange into some form of readability, and post up here, along with some of the hundreds of photographs I took during the trip. (Don't be thinking that's going to be a lot. I write big.) Now, however, I must retire, having spent altogether too much time trying to catch up on reading blogs and message boards, (and hardly making a dent for that matter), and the jet lag is catching up with me. I just wanted to pop in here and say, "well, I'm back."