Actually, FLAT is one of the few landscapes that freaks me out. I couldn't stand driving through Nebraska (the long way), and the only reason I can tolerate driving through California's central valley on the way up to San Francisco is because I can see the Diablo mountains off in the distance to the West.

I still haven't seen the Rockies other than from above while flying over them to the west coast...

I find that there is a beauty to the flat farmlands in northwestern Illinois...

When I went to Fort Wayne I was so excited to be IN the squares. You know how you fly over them but then land in a city? This time we dove straight into the squares!

And I discovered why the people of Indiana love their race cars so much -- you drive around on those wide, flat, empty, open-viewed roads and you STILL have to obey the speed limit. It's brutal. Going to the racetrack is nothing less than catharsis.

Poll: Do you expect to meet your pet in an afterlife?

'Yes' is winning, at 70.5%.

I figure its not paradise if my puppy isn't there.

I like oceans, mountains, desert, woods, green hills and brown hills.

Yeah, I love all these things too. And flat farmland on occasion. The idea of living in the interior, though? Freaks me right out. It makes me feel claustrophobic.

I totally had the East / West ocean confusion when I moved to SF after living my whole life on the east coast. But the worst was moving to Greensboro and having NO body of water by which to navigate. Finally, I realized that I could think of the train tracks as a river and orient myself that way.

Poll: Do you expect to meet your pet in an afterlife?

'Yes' is winning, at 70.5%.

So, with no option for us, those of us who don't believe in an afterlife can go screw, huh?

Because just answering NO on that poll implies quite a few things that are not true in my case.

If there is an afterlife, I expect Amarna to be waiting at me at the gate, meowing to get fed.

Getting a lot more rain now, although still not enough to take it past moderate rainstorm status. (The sky's still light gray, fer cryin' out loud!) There's a bit more wind blowing, but *knock on wood* we still haven't lost the satellite, power, or internet.

I just with the bloody storm would go already. I should open a manuscript file and try to work.

Yeah, you're deprived of fully expressing yourself in a meaningless poll. It's brutal.

I'm wondering - if our pets go to heaven, how about all the animals I ate? Maybe in heaven I'll run into a cow who'll say, "Dude. You ate me." And I'll be all, "Sorry. But I was hungry. And if it makes you feel any better, you were very tasty."