India Beckons

The birthday is done, and now the real work begins. Our trip is a quickly looming reality, with departure only 13 days away. How is that possible? We've been talking about doing this for years, so much so that phrases like "when we go to India" have been part of our children's lexicon since they could talk. If we have been planning so long, why is there so much to do, and so little time to do it in?

Now we have to get on with the mundane details of global travel. Boxing up our clothes and belongings so that our tenants don't feel like we're coming home at any minute. Procuring a massive collection of medications and getting the last round of shots, so that we don't come home infected with something resembling the 3 eyed fish from The Simpsons swimming around in our bloodstreams. Putting the garden to bed. Cleaning the house. Draining and cleaning the hot tub. Pre-staging all of our electronics gear to make sure that no crucial cable has been forgotten. There's so much to do, and only 13 damned days to do it in!

Amidst the chaos, there are indicators that this odd path the we have chosen for ourselves could actually resonate with correctness. I received a wonderful email today from our man in Cochin, Krishnagopal. We were introduced online by a mutual friend, and have been carrying on a correspondence for a few months now. Originally, he was going to be the one helping us to find a house in Cochin, but it's evolving into something greater. Over the last few months, we have learned more and more about each others lives and families. He just lost his father in October at the age of 91, and Laurel just lost her dad. We are both involved in "creative endeavours" to say the least. Here's the email:

Dear Rob,
Wishing you a very happy birthday and happy days and full of sunshine in India.Iwas really hoping that you must be a Scorpio like me.
Most of the creative people are scorpio born.I am happy to find one more
bird of same feathers.
On turning 50 no wonder you are searching where the 20 years
have gone.Time has taken us to so many places and people .We were allover
looking for something ,chasing shadows ,some times loosing balance
between the family and work.All this we indulge because we all believe in
"karmasu kausalam" - "skill in action".
Since we have somany things in common like birth signs,profession,
loosing some one close to us in the same month-I lookforward meeting you
and spending some good time together.This must be a God's wish that we
should come together for "saha veeryam karava vahai"-"come let us work together".
Warm regards
Krishna gopal

Is that not wonderful? It really made my day after what has been a pretty eventful week of festivities. Could it be that we may actually arrive safely with all of our stuff? Might we be able to quickly rent a house that will be suitable for all of us? Will there be a friendly and welcoming face to greet us when we get there? Its beginning to look like that might just happen. When I look out the window and see the morning sun on the water and the dense fir trees that surround us, I can't even picture how different things will look in a few weeks.

The picture I'm including in this post is one I took in Khajaraho in 2000. Khajaraho is a little town that is kind of difficult to get to, but is quite famous for its collection of about 17 temples that were constructed about 1000 years ago. They are of varying sizes, with the biggest one being several stories high. Their distinguishing common feature is that they are all covered, every square inch, with erotic carvings of such imagination and variety, that after a viewing a few square feet one is left with the distinct impression that there truly is nothing new under the sun. I won't go into detail, but let's just say that there is a reason the Kama Sutra was written in India.

Anyway, I must go and apply the last of the shingles to the workshop, tidy up the house, gather cables and battery chargers together, clean up the network room, and and and and and.....