A Death in the Rain

When I die, let it rain. I have always wanted to die when rain is all can be heard. When water pours like glass beads from heavenly hands, and stands among terraced trees, and spills down grassy lanes, and gathers like birds on a windowsill, tap-tapping the panes. When I die, let it rain. SometimesContinue reading “A Death in the Rain”

Lessons on Community – The Larapinta Trail

Day One on the trail finds the eight of us in good spirits until somewhere near the 22 kilometer mark. The terrain is mostly flat, the red earth masked by spinifex and scraggly trees that offer only minimal shade, the path meandering between rolling hills, climbing only occasionally over rocky outcrops. It’s an easy trailContinue reading “Lessons on Community – The Larapinta Trail”

A Language of Smiles

The young Tibetan speaks no English. My Mandarin is limited. In a language of smiles and gestures, he tells me to remove my boots. I peer dubiously along the steep, rocky path, running above a blue, alpine lake. More Tibetans, the man’s family, hobble over the stones, faces taught in pained concentration. Prayer flags flutterContinue reading “A Language of Smiles”