Melt

 

Those two!

For Lent this year I am doing what I have done every year in Lent, for the past four years.

Packing. Cleaning and packing up the house. It is refreshing to think of it as a meditative and Lenten activity. Dusting and sorting and categorizing and packing.

We begin our travels on the last day of this month. For those of you who are new to the blog or confused, (I'm confused, we're all confused!) we only spend the six months from October to March here in our house in Goa. The other six months of the year are mysterious and daring. Last year we were traveling in North America, the year before we lived in the North of India, and this year? Where are we going? We have to leave India due to new visa regulations, so we are going to the place known as the Roof of the World.

Nepal!

I am very excited. We haven't been there for ten years. It's another place in Chinua and my history together, another romantic, falling-in-love place. It's also gorgeous beyond belief. I'm not sure what the monsoon will be like there, but I'm excited for cool weather.

Because it's reallyreallyreally hot here and yesterday I melted, and then I had to slither across the floor instead of walk, and that made packing really hard.

Today the things that make my heart have a little *ping* of excitement are:

* Sitting on the porch with the laptop, working on the book.

* Morning. Have I mentioned how much I love morning? The sun peeking over the hill? The bird trills?

* Maybe a swim later, after packing.

* Devotion circle today, the last one. Chinua is doing the flowers.

* An upcoming train journey with the kids. They love the train, love the chai wallas shouting "Chai, chai, garam chai!" The deal is that they get one cup of chai in the morning on the train, and it's exciting enough for them that they talk about it ALL. YEAR. LONG.

* If we do all our work like good kids, Chinua and I might get a couple of nights away.

* Chinua played some new songs for me. We're trying a new thing: collaboration. I am now trying to find the words that will lilt along with this incredible beauty. His songs make me melt of happiness.

And then I have to slither along the floor. It makes packing hard.