I am back in the USA, Sandgate Vermont specifically now for 1 week.
I am really happy to be back home in Vermont.
It is still quite startling to see the Vermont landscape: open, feral and filled with the quiet brown, ash and taupe, predominant; with patches of yellow green creeping in. Early spring has meant that the forsythia is in raucous acid bloom:WOW.
I am very weak. I am very slow. My brain feels most of the time in a fog. My mind wishes it weren't. I feel very vulnerable.
I meditate almost everyday. I drink my "jammu" (turmeric /ginger laced drink) to help my liver heal. I practice yoga...when i can and take walks.
Mostly, though what I want to convey is a sense of true thankfulness. I am still processing this illness and how ill I was.
Survival can be a very "unconscious" mode: it's meant to be.
It is a state of ancestral memory; eons of human survival in all its forms.
After the hospital I went to convalesce at the Galahari Hotel. It was the only hotel available as there was a business expo going on in Colombo. My excellent dengue fever doctor, Dr. Wijeywickrama (filled with knowledge as well as a caring bedside manner) suggested that I go to a "seaside" hotel and be over the 8th floor as I could get bitten again (there are 4 kinds of dengue). This was to minimize that opportunity.
The hotel was Arab Chic, over the top and the addition of women in full clad black burqa (with only their slits/eyes showing) was just another element of surreal.
The hotel management was very helpful and solicitous. It was a good choice to convalesce.
Another time I may blog more about Sri Lanka. Right now doesn't seem like the proper time.
Right now is about being /acknowledging where I am Now and concentrating on building health. Playing the piano. Seeing friends. Seeing Diandra
My sister Deborah and brother-in-law Mostafa were there to retrieve me from JFK. It was just what I needed and they lovingly helped me get settled into Sandgate. My house had been cleaned and well stocked by two dear friends, Jayne and Ellen. Friends come by each day. I need this at this time and I welcome it.
Please take the time to truly feel thankful for your health and your time here on earth. Feel gratitude for what IS and the abundance of it all. We live in a world where it's always trying to tell us to be dissatisfied for who We are and what we have. It's so disingenuous and so Untrue.
To accept yourself and the person next to you, as well as half way across the world exemplifies what it is to truly embrace humanity.
This is what I will be keeping in the forefront of my foggy brain as I try to heal myself.
Very fundamental. Very real.
And
because it is spring
and I have been habituated for over 35 years
to reach into the cold/damp soil
with the sun on my back
I do strive to regain my strength and plant my vegetable garden.
All helpers welcomed!
travelin' woman
I am really happy to be back home in Vermont.
It is still quite startling to see the Vermont landscape: open, feral and filled with the quiet brown, ash and taupe, predominant; with patches of yellow green creeping in. Early spring has meant that the forsythia is in raucous acid bloom:WOW.
I am very weak. I am very slow. My brain feels most of the time in a fog. My mind wishes it weren't. I feel very vulnerable.
I meditate almost everyday. I drink my "jammu" (turmeric /ginger laced drink) to help my liver heal. I practice yoga...when i can and take walks.
Mostly, though what I want to convey is a sense of true thankfulness. I am still processing this illness and how ill I was.
Survival can be a very "unconscious" mode: it's meant to be.
It is a state of ancestral memory; eons of human survival in all its forms.
 |
| the slums directly outside my very private and posh hospital, Lanka Hospital. If you ever find yourself in Colombo needing a hospital: get yourself to this one. Healthcare is completely FREE for Sri Lankans (gov't hospitals), but I did choose to go to a private one. |
 | |||||||
| it was a small slum,but in typical SE Asian fashion directly next to developed and wealthy areas |
The hotel was Arab Chic, over the top and the addition of women in full clad black burqa (with only their slits/eyes showing) was just another element of surreal.
The hotel management was very helpful and solicitous. It was a good choice to convalesce.
 |
| outside my 10th floor window was extraordinary beauty: the old Parliament building to the left |
 |
| the Indian Ocean to the right, the modern skyscrapers in the background, and a beautiful beach/ boardwalk/ fort where people walked all the time in the limitless sun |
Right now is about being /acknowledging where I am Now and concentrating on building health. Playing the piano. Seeing friends. Seeing Diandra
 | |||
| my darling daughter Diandra and her beau, Silas who came to VT. to help me and love me up! Thank YOU! |
Please take the time to truly feel thankful for your health and your time here on earth. Feel gratitude for what IS and the abundance of it all. We live in a world where it's always trying to tell us to be dissatisfied for who We are and what we have. It's so disingenuous and so Untrue.
To accept yourself and the person next to you, as well as half way across the world exemplifies what it is to truly embrace humanity.
This is what I will be keeping in the forefront of my foggy brain as I try to heal myself.
Very fundamental. Very real.
And
because it is spring
and I have been habituated for over 35 years
to reach into the cold/damp soil
with the sun on my back
I do strive to regain my strength and plant my vegetable garden.
All helpers welcomed!
travelin' woman
Phyllis dear: We're so glad to have you back safe and increasingly sound. Will get over to see you this week, Insh'Allah! judith
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