Jet-lag smetchlag!
Less than 24-hours after my flight touched down on JFK to begin my whirlwind tour of the US, I was on the road again–in a train this time–on my way to Chester, VT, to see John and Diane. On the way upstate New York country and Connecticut scenery provided a welcome change to the weather and climate I had both in Kathmandu and New York City!
I had left a rainy and gray Kathmandu behind flying out of the city. I had hoped that I had left the miserable weather behind in addition to my didgeridoo–in the airport cab!
Except, it wasn’t so! Big Apple greeted me with the same! What’s more, in addition to being rainy it was also windy AND cold!
I might not have suffered from jet-lag but Spring was lagging behind in New York City just as it did in Kathmandu as also in the rest of the northern hemisphere! I would have preferred to leave the rain behind and not my didgeridoo…obviously!
Being back in the US for a second visit in less than a year, I rediscovered how there’s something about being on the move…being on the road…traveling! Since touching down on JFK, I had a spring in my steps…that probably partly explains the lack of jet-lag!
In Chester, too, looking out the window into the landscape covered in snow…into the landscape filled with naked, leafless trees…into the wintry-cold springair that was still, crisp, and the sky that was blue and clear…I was itching to venture out.
But, I felt a little uncomfortable…lest I disturb the stillness, the tranquility! I felt I would be intruding upon and disrupting the peace doing so! Crazy, huh!
I realized then how Kathmandu had done a number on me! Of course, I did come to my senses and I ventured out…to enjoy the peace and quiet!
During the visit, I gave a talk to members of the local Rotary Club about my life, what I am doing and why I am doing what I do. (Click here for what someone who attended the presentation had to say about it.)
I was also pleasantly surprised by a fellow Grinnellian I hadn’t seen in almost 25 year! Of course, throughout my travels, I keep re-connecting with people from the past, albeit briefly. What can I say, as I move forward with my life, I also keep going back, as it were, regularly!
Apart from that, I went and attended an Easter service at the local monastery! Unfortunately, in spite of having confirmed, that morning, the time of the service, we arrived to discover that it had actually begun half an hour earlier; we caught only the last 5 minutes of the half-hour service! That of course threw me off a little since in Kathmandu pretty much everything runs late, though everyone on the streets is in a hurry to get somewhere quick! 🙂
John also fit me into an hour-and-a-half long yoga session Friday morning before my train back to New York City! My body did not like that; my mind did…I fell sound asleep near the end!
Having been lulled by yoga, I must have left my mind behind when I traveled to New York because I forgot my iPad in the train! However, calling Amtrak Lost and Found Department at Union Station in Washington DC, the destination of the train, I discovered that it had been turned in by whoever had picked it up!
(I picked up the gadget when I arrived in Washington DC Wednesday evening! While someone else might be enjoying my didgeridoo, my iPad is still in my possession! 🙂 )
All in all, a refreshing and re-invigorating visit! Thanks are in order for John and Diane responsible for most of it and the hospitality!
