A New Journey Begins

Off! Just arrived at the Air India counter of JFK--and have already eaten one of three protein bars an experienced friend suggest I bring with me on my trip. (Do I get travel points off for this, I wonder?)

On leaving the house, I was swept up by a deep and unexpected pang while saying goodbye to the girls and Curtis. How, honestly, is a mother to straddle her passionate desires to explore the world with the love that can never let go?

Advice for the journey, offered among boisterous hugs just before stepping into my waiting car (and so perfectly in keeping with the deliverers):

Maddie: "Make good decisions, be good to your body, and trust your intuition."

Delilah: "Slip, slap, slop: slip into a pair of sandals, slap a hat on your head, and slop on some sunscreen." (Did I get that right, D?)

Kisses! And please remember that I'm always with you, even when I'm not.

Leaving on a Jet Plane

Tomorrow afternoon, I'll begin making my way to London, Mumbai and Bangalore as part of the journey to Bylakuppe, a Tibetan settlement in southern India. For two weeks, I'll be interviewing Tibetan elders there for The Tibet Oral History Project.

Oh, the things that will find me!

Here's my beloved family (taken this morning on our front stoop, on the occasion of Delilah's last day of 2nd grade): Curtis, our daughters Madeleine and Delilah, my parents Andrea and Bill, and of course the dog, Lola.

I look forward to leaving, and just as much to returning.

No Words for "I Want..."

Last night, 60 Minutes featured a report on "sea gypies" living off the coast of Thailand and Burma--who've garnered world attention for uniformly managing to survive the tsunami of a few years back.

What interested me even more than this fact? An almost-casual aside offered three-quarters of the way through the piece.

They have no words for "I want."

And nothing for "hello" or "goodbye" either. Distant relatives from other islands paddle in for a visit, indifferent to whether it's been weeks, months, or years since last meeting and parting. Comings-and-goings are simply experienced as fabric of the whole.

While lying in bed watching TV, I couldn't help but giggle. Imagine my fellow New Yorkers living this way for even a day!

What a grand experiment that would be.