Random Specifics

The Collector of Discarded Dreams

Karanji Lake, Mysore

Yes, we are alive and well. 

The heat is something to behold and Vivian and I will hereafter be careful of what we ask for. There is a newer, different way of 'surviving' India each time we come, each time the variation is presented. With temperatures topping 100 this week we welcome refuge where we find it. The shala has been surprisingly cool the last couple of days, before that it was dripping before we started at 4:30am. Our apartment never cools off less than 85, we guess, so our morning naps are important! In fact, everything slows down or closes down midday. We have been watching DVD's of Planet Earth so we can see footage of cool waters and oceans and ice in the hopes that we will cool off through our eyes.

There is still indoor wildlife to battle daily: 3 varieties of ants, cockroaches,  roach imposters, mosquitos, and two huge flying bugs... and bedbugs of some sort. 

 

This guy's on our side.

 Of course we have spiders and these house geckos working on our team.

Beyond our walls we have recently seen a grass snake, toads at 4am, skinks, an iguana-looking reptile, and possibly a mongoose. This is in the city limits.

 

"On a long enough timeline, everything returns to zero."

Tyler Derden, Fight Club.

I was mesmerized by this freshly burned area. We often see these flash-burn areas, some controlled and set along borders and others random, or destructively started. Change is inevitable. It has been hard to stay focused for me here; part of me stepping in this experience, part already treading in my future returned-self path. I am left wondering about what I have burned away in my journey, what have I found to plant the next forest. There is also so much to be said collectively and individually that cannot be shared on these airwaves, but there will be nuggets to be revealed in a safer environment. There is also the test of patience here as we sit amid swarms if info, tidbits, and gossip that require distillation before action. By the next day the information may be different, or at least not worth repeating. But rest assured, we will bring back the spirit of the shala.

  

aeryk