Back In The U. S. of A.

Well, there's no mistaking it. I'm back in the US, getting my anti-depressant medication adjusted, and my head back in the world.

The actual trip was a breeze, and the dog arrived in Chicago no worse for the wear. The trip down from Chicago to Champaign was a stark reminder of how incredibly flat Illinois is. No sea, either.

I've done nothing much since I got back except sleep. I got the things I absolutely had to do taken care of while I was still buzzing from the energy of the trip (I had made the mistake of not completely finishing my packing before I enjoyed a couple of "good-bye" get-togethers with friends.), and then I collapsed and have pretty much stayed that way.

If you've never enjoyed the experience of full-blown clinical depression, I hope you never do. I see the shrink on Thursday, and with a little luck will begin feeling better again not too long thereafter.

Besides the flatness, another thing that has blown me away is that nobody seems to realize the Democratic primary's been over since last month. As far as my Spanish friends know, it was over a long time before that. But not many of them are paying much attention. The general attitude is that Bush has really screwed up America, and that he's out of there come next January when Mr. Obama will begin the long, hard job of trying to put things back together again. It is unimaginable to them that anything else could happen. They see little difference between Bush and McCain. They think Hillary would be an improvement, but they see her as being too enmeshed with the system and the ways of thinking that got us into the mess we're in.

I think they're pretty astute in appraising the candidates, but I'm afraid they don't realize how little a role this kind of logic plays in American elections. We'll see.