The Longest Half Mile

"Spirit of place! It is for this we travel, to surprise its subtlety; and where it is a strong and dominant angel, that place, seen once, abides entire in the memory with all its own accidents, its habits, its breath, its name." - Alice Meynell This is my coming of age story. It is the story of a boy-chameleon who changes colors to match the rock upon which he has perched. It is the story of his struggles to fit into his new coat of many colors.Shortly after my eighteenth birthday, I...
More Description

"Spirit of place! It is for this we travel, to surprise its subtlety; and where it is a strong and dominant angel, that place, seen once, abides entire in the memory with all its own accidents, its habits, its breath, its name." - Alice Meynell This is my coming of age story. It is the story of a boy-chameleon who changes colors to match the rock upon which he has perched. It is the story of his struggles to fit into his new coat of many colors.Shortly after my eighteenth birthday, I left San Francisco with $25 in my pocket and worked my way around the world. The journey took three years and involved a number of adventures on three continents and several oceans. The sailor's life provided a sense of calm, of space. Months of crossing brought shelter through isolation, a place to hibernate, a place to digest events and reflect, a place to mature.The work-a-day group of Australians that took me in allowed me freedom to purge some of my demons, to improve my survival skills. On these distant shores, I entered a world full of madness that offered new perspectives on the boundaries of human behavior. In France, I found hope, a new identity in a gentle world. It became my haven where social order seemed a thing of beauty, where I proudly assumed the esteemed role of being a representative of l'Amérique.A summer full of adventure began on a U.S. Air Force base in Madrid where my discomfort with the America lifestyle resurfaced. In Israel, I roamed the countryside from kibbutzim to Solomon's Mines entering into a caring relationship as well as dangerous situations.Returning to France a second year, I studied that marvelous society's literature under the microscope as I tried to reconcile the great works with my daily life. I struggled to fit into a culture which turned out to be far more complex than I had ever imagined. My desire to assimilate into this world grew, requiring focus and discipline to execute the search for a role that suited me