to the 81 -

There's no way I can take a picture that makes this drive appear as beautiful as it is. It's a valley filled with farms, lakes, cottages, and barns. I took a drive through California once that was slightly more breathtaking than this, but it was beautiful in a different way. Other than that, this is my favorite drive in America.

You and I will be seeing a lot of each other over the next few weeks since I'll be driving to see my petitioners in Binghamton every few days. The drive is beautiful (especially through Cortland) so I enjoy your company, but if three isn't too much of a crowd, I'd like to invite a few podcasts. I like the Moth, RadioLab, This American Life, PRI: selected shorts, the fiction section of the New Yorker, and Wait Wait... Don't Tell Me! Not that I don't love obsessing over this campaign, but I like having something else to think about, and all these podcasts have stories with interesting questions built into them: What would it be like to suddenly lose my ability to speak or to recognize people I love? Why do I always cry over stories with broken parent-daughter relationships? Why am I so afraid of having children? What if I was wrongly convicted of murder or held hostage for years? What is my favorite way to relieve stress? How would my life change if I didn't have legs? Where should I go on my next roadtrip?

These are things I'd like to work through with you, if that's okay.
britt