Then there’s a different kind of education. Today was my first time flying in a hot air balloon. To say it was beautifully peaceful would be an understatement—you float along the wind streams like a sailboat gliding through sea currents, experiencing the environment from a completely unique perspective.

A change of scenery can engender a change in mind. The red rocks of Sedona and in a greater sense the overall feeling of the American Southwest has reinvigorated me. Seeing how a different state operates makes plain the simple multitude of different ways to do things. This even so for a place within a (long) day’s driving distance.

Americans are as diverse as their country’s varied landscapes. There are deserts and forests and plains and mountains and coasts. We are urbanites and rural folk. Just as we must change our attire and way of life in different habitats, we must understand how those changes affect the minds of those who live there. Arizona is not California or Maine or Minnesota. But we are united in our dreams for a good life, for bright futures for our children. Let’s rally around that, and progress forward with purpose.