Travel plans! What a rush of excitement and anticipation-getting out the suitcases, thinking about the weather, the activities, the people, the food. Dreaming over the maps and brochures. Making many calls to traveling companions. Getting everything in order to make the experience pleasant and comfortable. Calling about the mail and papers and
neighborhood watch. Or not. When I leave the house in the morning to take my dog to the park, I can turn south as usual or be adventurous and turn north! Ah, the new vistas!

Even though I have lived here since the rocks were young, there are still places I haven't explored. I keep a travel and tourism book with it's magical Yellow Pages right next to my telephone. Look, a store I have
never entered. I don't need a passport or a single inoculation. Imagine my surprise at the mysteries in the auto parts store and the new lumber yard-what a menu of unknown products and uses. These foreign countries have guides who speak English and take the time to explain the landscape and point out various areas of interest. Don't even need a tour bus or a ticket to enter.

There are tourist attractions in my neighborhood. I put my camera around my neck, put on a funny hat and pretend I'm from the flatland. The mammal center has a great gift shop as well as patients of interest (rescued mammals), and the feline rescue has a window on the street to watch the residents at play. I watch with amazement at the maintenance people taking care of Beachfront Park and Kid Town. They have machines and so many skills that are necessary to keep our place beautiful. And they are friendly. One of them calls me "Sunshine."

Then there are the museums and monuments. There are the artistic offerings-galleries and shows. And the variety of restaurants! Ethnic variety and fast foods. Just name it, and it's there for the enjoyment. I see an address in the Yellow Pages that is not familiar. So off I go on a quest for the unknown, the exciting, the information that will make me locally literate.

My post-journey conversation may not be as stunning as someone returning from Paris, but I did not have to wrestle a bag into an overhead compartment or become a sardine in the frenzy to the exit. I did not have to hurry up and wait, drink years old coffee out of a paper cup, or tip people. My home town-why do I need to pack up and go anywhere? It's all here.

Sharon McKinney of Crescent City has written of her love of the city park along the bay where she walks nearly every day with her dog Dido.
You can e-mail her at sjmck@earthlink.net.