Beautiful View

For those of you who don't know, I grew up in the beautiful St. Croix Valley in Minnesota.  For most of my childhood I lived in a small city called Bayport.  As you drive into Bayport from the south up Minnesota Highway 95 you come to a bend in the road, and as you round the bend you see the river valley stretched out before you in what is, in my opinion, one of the most beautiful views in the world.  It is a view that used to give me the feeling that I am almost home.  I never thought I would ever find a view that gave me the same feeling.

Recently I was driving back to Sofia from a trip out of town.  It was a beautiful sunny day, and I was enjoying the drive through the mountain passes along the Bulgarian expressway.  As I approached the Sofia Valley I drove around a curve in the road, and laid out before me was the entire valley.  It was so clear that I could see all the way across to the mountains on the other side.  As I looked down at the houses, factories, and fields, I could not help but feel like I was almost home.  It has been years since I have had that feeling.  It was a beautiful view, and it was good to be on my way home.