Winter wondering

Winter wondering

October 22, 2010

My time in Pokhara is dwindling, and I am savoring the last two days. Then off to Katmandu for a day and my two-day journey back to the states. I have grown so much from this experience. Unlike my time in Peru, I have had confidence to explore here. In talking to other tourists, we all feel so safe. As if these gentle people cannot even hold the thought of hurting someone or taking something that doesn’t belong to them. My lunchtime companions told me the story of how a woman on their trek had left her purse with passport and cash behind. The next day a Sherpa was sent to retrieve it and everything was in tact.

Spiritual principles are more than words here; they are the consensus reality that governs the people. So unlike the lip service of television evangelists. My soul is happy here. It tempts me to return, but my parents and boys keep me tethered to the states. I have even tested the purity of the water, a major concern in Peru, and it is safe here. If I moved here, I would have to take up the crusade of recycling as people throw their trash everywhere. The smell of burning reminds me of the barrel we used in our backyard when I was a child. People bring their garbage to the street to burn, leaving ashes and piles of debris everywhere. I cringed every time the three year old offered her candy wrappers to the winds up in the mountains. I guess nothing is perfect. It makes me take pride in my state where littering is considered a sin and curbside recycling encourages even the lazy to comply.

They have seasons here, a prerequisite for me. Everyone back home is reporting a beautiful fall with the colors changing. I am hopeful that I will catch a bit of it when I return. As we near November, the nights are cold enough to wither the leaves on the vegetables growing. The trees that cover the hillsides look as though they would sport festival colors at some point. I wonder what winter is like here. The locals tell me that it never snows. So another visit in January is in order. Perhaps I will become a permanent snowbird?