Friday, January 8, 2010

January 8, 2010

Fresh snow this morning. I went outside to brush off the cars and decided to keep walking. The sun was shining, the sky was blue, the world was beautiful. I walked to my favourite spot, a wooded area overlooking the Potomac. There are trees, a grass covered alley, a small prairie, a variety of wildlife. I come here on a regular basis and it is here I try to get in right relationship with the world. Some would call it prayer or meditation. I like to focus on a familiar tree, a particular view that I have seen at all times of day and throughout the year. In about 36 hours, all being well I will be in New Delhi 6000 miles on the other side of the world. What I see around me will be very different. I will be different. The trip ahead will not be easy. There are terrorism restrictions at the airports, adverse weather conditions on both ends. There is a good chance we will experience delay, boredom, frustration degenerating at best into back and head pains; stomach and bowel discomforts at worst into an outcome that doesn't bear thinking about. Yet the very fact that I can travel 6,000 miles in essentially a day is something that only the very privileged got to do just a few decades ago.