After a whirlwind tour of goodbyes yesterday and this morning (most of which were comfortably casual and callous, and a few of which were uncomfortably tearful and painfully real), I set out today for Johnson City, Tennessee, to begin an internship which will last...all summer. Not so excited about my first summer away from home, but looking forward with nervous anticipation to what God is going to do through the whole experience.

As I was driving the six hours from Lynchburg, Virginia to Johnson City, Tennessee, I passed several interesting signs that deeply impacted my inner psyche in ways that I still have not fully processed.

For example, I passed one sign on the outskirts of Johnsonville that read "Leave Johnsonville." So I did. But secretly, I thought it a rather rude sign.

Further along, as I continued to drive down the road, eating blueberries out of a carton and thinking about how driving in the mountains is a hair-raising experience at times and pondering the rudeness of the Johnsonville sign painter, I saw something else that was just as fascinating as the Johnsonville sign, albeit in a slightly more abstract sense. It was a white picket fence, with huge white painted lettering:

MYTHIC ALPACAS

My knowledge base doesn't extent to the realm of the mythical alpaca, so I texted my handy little sister, Michelle, to ask her expert opinion:

Michelle: Um. I think they don't really have alpacas. It's just a myth. But they really like alpacas, so they put up that sign...

Great. I really like tea. I'm gonna start a mythical tea farm where glass cups and china pots grow on trees...and then I'll invite all my friends over to drink imaginary liquids with me. Dude, I thought people in the North were weird...