Thursday, July 19, 2007

A Gift From Bhutan

Yesterday, near the end of my workday. I returned to my desk to find a package addressed to me. At first I thought it was some business related stuff but a closer inspection revealed it to be from a friend. About a month ago this friend and kindred spirit went on a trip to the country of Bhutan. Bhutan is a Buddhist country located between China and India. Much of her trip consisted in backpacking around the countryside visiting Buddhist monasteries and other places. I asked my friend to think of me and carry me in her pocket during her travels. Her gift to me was a small locket style container made of silver and filled with some soil from Bhutan. Along with this gift was a lovely note telling me how she thought of me everyday while symbolically carrying me in her pocket. I was very moved that she would do this and it reaffirmed something that I realized early on in our friendship. We were indeed kindred souls on the spiritual path. My body has never been to Bhutan, and it may never be there, but my spirit has been there and it was carried in the pocket of a friend.

When I finally left work yesterday I was very tired. Besides my daily work, Monday night was grocery store night and Tuesday night is always a Chloe night. Last night I had a very important mission to accomplish. In addition to a quick stop at a friend's music store, I needed to go to Target. I was tasked with an important goal. I needed to purchase the DVD of Ice Age...The Meltdown. This movie is Chloe's latest fixation. She's over Madagascar for the moment. When she was over Tuesday she wanted to watch Ice Age. It had been one of the free movies on HBO and we had intended to Tivo it. Unfortunately we forgot to do that and when we tried to play it for Chloe on Tuesday it was no longer available. She freaked! A freaked out three year old is quite a challenge for two very tired fifty-something's on a work night. I spent $20.00 on the DVD last night and it will more than pay for itself tonight when Chloe is once again at my house. The cool thing is that I also like Ice Age because the characters are prehistoric creatures and I love that stuff. I can feel the excitement already!

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