Shortly after our second wedding anniversary, pretty much 9 years ago now, Darren and I found ourselves in Sumatra, Indonesia for 10 days, staying on the shores of Lake Toba. That short stay has left me with many amazing memories but there is one in particular that I would like to share with you tonight.
In the course of events it happened that we found ourselves invited to a local wedding. If there is anything that impressed me about the people we met in Indonesia it was an unfathomable sense of hospitality and generosity. It followed us wherever we went and each person we met, though they owned very little, went out of their way to share what they had with us. It was this that led us to be appreciative guests at a wedding of two people that we did not know.
But it's not the wedding that I am writing about tonight. Instead, it is a fleeting thought that went through my head afterwards that has availed itself of my recollections. After the wedding we were ushered into a small room at the rear of the building for a celebratory meal. At the back of this room was an open doorway that allowed you to see outside. Standing in the frame of that doorway you looked out upon a vast field of rice paddy. As a backdrop to that almost-infinite stretch of green stood a collosal mountain, purple-gray on the distant horizon. I remember thinking, in awe, fancy stepping out your back door every day to that!
That moment, though not profoundly significant, returned to my mind today when I opened my balcony door, looked out and thought (as I often do), "I can't believe this is my world now!" It's that same feeling that I have when I look up at the stars and think, "Wow! I'm actually in the Northern Hemisphere. I have never seen the sky look quite like this before". It makes me want to drag everyone from home over here and make them have a look (even though I'm sure the Southern Hemisphere sky is better - no, of course it's not bias!).
What a privilege it is to be able to see different parts of this amazing planet! I feel humbled that I am so privileged when so many others will never have such wonderful opportunities. And the crazy thing is that all it takes (well, the financial aspect aside!) is for you to realise, "Well, why not?". Sometimes we spend our days taking such small sips of our lives when we could be chugging life down in draughts! And I don't necessarily just mean travelling either. You may stay exactly where you are and the principle is the same: circumstances can dictate the direction of your life or you can stand up and make the decision that, in the end, your life is going to be as close to what you would have had it been as is possible.
So today I have found myself thinking: What are 3 places in the world that I would love to find myself in before this life becomes the next? Here is what I came up with, not in any particular order. I would love to find myself in Japan, perhaps on a bridge over a stream, in the midst of cherry trees all in blossom. I would love to find myself on a Greek island, looking out over a blue-green ocean from an open window or balcony up high on a hill. Down the hillside I can see the whitened homes standing by the alleyways that maze around or lead down to the beach. In this scenario it is mid-morning and I have awoken from a fantastic sleep! Thirdly, I would love to find myself standing outside an ancient building perched in isolation, high atop a mountain, with gentle clouds swirling around me and a mightly river winding it's way through the valleys so far below. Sri Lanka has Adam's peak, so maybe the third scenario might even be a possibility.
So what about you? What three would you pick? What are the 3 places on this planet that you would most want to find yourself? No smarty-pants answers, like "In my beloved arms", you understand what I'm getting at - geographical places only. Here's your chance to get interactive with us. Leave a comment and tell me what you would pick. I'd love to hear your choices.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Posts
4 comments:
Seeing the world from a different perspective is. I think to be able to dive on a shipwreck in clear tropical waters. To see the Earth from a hot air balloon and thirdly in one word, Africa.
Hello McQuades... lets see...
1. America - a couple of different locations, but one is driving through the desert on a road trip; another times square in NY. Many more than this but Im already overextending my three ;)
2. Japan, yeah. Mt Fuji, looking up at it, and looking down from it, and to see all those cherry blossoms.
3. I'd like to go back to China, to the city and to the country side, and see the things of the country they dont show all the tourists... to see the real China, to go back to the great wall in a different season, to explore the Forbidden City in my own time...
Thats my list... its actually MUCH bigger than that, including Russia, Brazil, Hawai'i (volcanos!)
Hope your having a great day!!
Cathy
p.s. I'll send my email to you soon
My first is to stand on the cliffs at the Southern most point in England and reflect on the decision John and Imade 40 years ago to come to Australia.Not that we ever thought we had made a mistake but to ponder on the ideas of what where and how we would have made a lfe other than the one we had chosen so many years previously' Maybe you will do something similar when you get toa ripe old age'
The second one is to back to Darwin and hopefully be there at the time there is one of their famous lightening storms' this was one of the times that we knew without question that we were to come to Bunbury'once again alife changing move.
The first two are not so much exciting as thought provoking'but the third one 'and Idont really know where it is geographically' but it was on a TV programme where many cultures gather together alarge market place to do all their buying and selling for the whole year different cultures.dialects and much more.
1. Tibet. I'd love to find a serene town high in the mountains and see the mist move through the hills.
2. On a boat in the Amazon River, upriver where the jungle is thick.
3. Baffin Island, Canada. I'd like to ride a dog sled with some inuit people.
Post a Comment