I can smell the cold!

I was just looking at my calendar and realized, "Wow! Only 14 days until I am home for Christmas!" Elated, that's me! All these pictures start flooding my memory, I-5 through Portland over the river, the boring stretch from Corvallis to Eugene, the winding turns on the Powers road and suddenly I see the Leatherman's house as the road begins to drop me into the most familiar territory I have known in my life...I've pounded on these roads with my feet, I've ridden horses and 4-wheelers through these trees, I've "cruised" countless miles along the straight stretch...and I can see the river gorging with water from all the rain. As brown as it is it still carries a mighty power. And the cold...I can smell the cold, feel it as it burns my lungs out on my run in which I see a mere 5 cars (mostly trucks) passing me, crossing into the other lane to steer clear of the runner! And there are the cows...for some reason they have become a significant part of my picture of home...only now as I watch them I can see my brothers newly built house surrendered to the hanging bluffs and supplying the backdrop of this simple picture of home. Home, I can't wait for it to hit all 5 senses!