10

10 days until we leave this home of ours - most likely not to return.
It's been too long since I wrote on here, and I have noticed that I tend to let the blogging go when I get busy with moving and packing and traveling. This summer will likely be similar, but most people have probably quit reading my blog by now, so my upcoming 'lack of blogging' probably will just slip by unnoticed.

Here, the monsoon has just arrived today! Thunder-less, lightning-less, ongoing drizzle beneath a cloud-covered sky. I hung my laundry outside this morning and peered up at the sun, which was visible through the clouds, but seemed so small and far, far away. The laundry dried a little bit, and I've already sold my dryer, so I will probably hang it out again tomorrow, even if the weather is overcast. I like this season, but especially when I will only be here for 10 days of it, not 3 months like everyone else who lives here. I won't miss wiping mold off my walls, wishing I could escape the damp-damp-damp, and smashing scorpions and spiders this time around... and that's nice.

Will and I have been feeling a bit sick - probably from eating something in the bazaar. we'll never know what exactly causes each bout of sickness, but it's not fun and I won't miss all the sickness we've had in 4 years here, either. Unfortunately, this brings back memories of 2 years ago when Will got very sick just hours before we were leaving our mountain going back to the US, and both kids covered the plane floor with vomit - not from motion sickness, but because they were sick before we even got on the plane. We're praying that this won't be the case this time - it was miserable.

Packing is coming along. I am enjoying getting rid of many things. I am sad to leave some things, but it helps if I find a good home for my favorite green, wool, army blanket - and my living room rug, which I will miss very much. Most photos are off the walls and books are stacked in our packing room. We're passing along piles of things to the needy people around us, and it's a joy to give things to them and to see their faces light up at the treasures they are receiving - our excess. I feel very blessed to be in a place where getting rid of things means passing it to the next person who will certainly put it to good use.

Well, I'd better go and get some more things done. This week and next will be full of the "Last...." as well as many, many goodbyes, and we will leave sad, I am sure. National friends have said to me several times, "Don't leave!" and I wish we could stay. But mostly, I am glad to leave yet another place where our final sorrow testifies of our investment here. We have lived quite fully in this place and we will miss much, but that is a rich life in my opinion.

From Alfred Lord Tennyson's poem: In Memoriam
"I hold it true, whate'er befall;
I feel it, when I sorrow most;
'Tis better to have loved and lost
Than never to have loved at all."