I Still Love

I still love New York City, the melting pot, the oldest bar in the city, and the Irishman who told us never to go to bed angry. I still love the black bear and her cubs at the top of Kuwohi, and when we told her, "This is your domain. We'll go back down. We'll be on our way." I still love New Smyrna Beach, the rays and crabs, the little girl who gave me a sandstone bracelet, and the hurricane that kept us in a late-night diner with milkshakes and stories. I still love Seattle, the light rail, the kind stranger who captured our favorite moment for us on the Space Needle at night, and the waterfront with its fish and its workers and its coffee and its old books. I still love the Cumberland River, the big gorge, the place where they broke the land for coal, and imagining myself going over the edge, falling, falling, into the cradle of rushing water. I still love waking up to mourning doves, seeing red cardinals in snowy trees, hearing the distant calls of red-shouldered hawks, and…