Starting with the end: leaving austin was grueling. much of it self-inflicted ruthless scheduling of big efforts - i won't even bother to list them. But also leaving my life, friends, family, (and animals) behind was much more difficult than expected. I suppose embarking on a journey like this, no matter how long i'm gone in calender months/years, I am destined to return ...different (for lack of a better word.) I have been passionately in love with my life in austin the last couple of years, so i guess leaving felt like a break-up, or maybe graduation. Let it be known, however, that I know beyond a doubt that i'm exactly where i'm supposed to be!
Back to the story, my last act of mascicism was scheduling my flight to leave at 7 in the morning!(sorry, family!) I boarded the plane utterly exhausted and feeling heart-broken. LA airport, however, is always fun to arrive in, esp when launching overseas, because the world suddenly becomes international again. i only had 3 hours there, where i wrote several letters, found out that (since 9/11) LAX doesn't have an airport anymore - who knew, and suffered, embarassingly, from cell-phone-seperation-anxiety. you don't realize how attached you become to those little suckers. i even imagined i heard it ring a few times. so forlorn. (i promise my whole trip won't be this detailed! bare with me) I passed out the majority of the next 29 hours in limbo, waking up only for what seemed like perpetual feedings.
Then: BALI! and MISI! and the world was fresh and new again! my only manifestations of jet lag were waking up bright-eyed & bushy-tailed at 5:45,which when you're in paradise, can't be considered suffering at all. I'd sip coffee on the porch of our little bungalow and watch the garden wake up. My favorite little morning friends were my 'machiatto' finches - espresso brown bodies with steamed milk foam heads, and a slick clear whistle. Restoration.
