sometimes you just need to climb a tree

sometimes i forget how much i love and need alone time.  i forget because i really enjoy people.  after a morning and afternoon of lectures i had to run out to the tea fields again because it's just so beautiful and alone, i can hear the quiet.

i also forget that i always love and connect with people who wear clogs (outside of the hospital) - it has never failed, so basically, when i go to new places- i should look at peoples feet to find my friends.

this time has been rich with experiences and information, but i'm ready to go home. lying in the dry grass, on another perfect day, there is much to think about. we've talked about raising trans-cultural kids, and about the big issues of health and change and poverty and response.  i've been in awe of those who have sacrificed so so much for so so long- i'm just a baby in this world.

and here i am under a great big tree, looking up at a blue blue sky and watching the leaves dance as i have so many times before in other places, at other times when i was younger and thought different things- or about the same things but with different ideas. 

there are some people playing frisbee on the lawn in front of me.  i looked up just when the frisbee got stuck in a tree and i ran to it- desperate to climb- and free it- but i was too late- someone else was in the tree.

some days i so badly want to climb a tree, to be a kid again, not 41. that's one of the great things about having kids - they let you play again.  they require it.  because sometimes you just need to smell grass and feel bark and maybe today is one of those days.