Touchdown.

May 17. 2008
"God said He would give His life so we could live more abundantly."

-The woman in the seat beside me. She is talking on her cell phone over even my iPod. But from God to Wal-Mart to foot surgery to weather to getting sick of her job, I feel like it's a conversation I would've had with her, if either of us put down our cell toys and iPods and actually acknowledged one another were there. Side by side in an airport.

May 18.2008
It hasn't even been 24 hours and already I am loving this vacation. Yes, the weather is lovely and perfect and everything is green and lush and we're eating mangos and starfruit from the trees down the street and it rains so gently and so sweetly that I feel like it's the weather trying to wrap us in a blanket of welcome home; but it's the people- my friends- on this trip that have made it spectacular. I find myself- the lover traveler- no wanting to leave for even a moment from the conversation, even well into the night. As Rachel said, "we just all have so much interesting stuff to say!" And it's delightful. It's a rush in a way I haven't experienced in a very long time. And while I've never been much for "girl talk" or the constant stream of conversation, with this roomful of women I feel safe, comfortable, and moreso, interested in what they have to say.


May 20. 2008
This morning I woke up in the dark and could not go back to sleep. I lay there under the fan, willing myself to sleep as the sounds of birds began. First, just one rhythmic voice, later joined by various types of twitter as the sun came up. It's 6:30am now and the stillness after last night's downpour is heavy and thick and smells of sweet pineapple. The rooster crows.

It's time to go for a run.