Monday, September 24, 2007
Questions to Myself
One of the scariest things in Ramadhan is the amount of deaths that occur. It's like some people are deliberately put to sleep forever during this holy month.
Recently a unimate of mine succumbed to internal bleeding of the brains. Despite the fact that I don't know her but we share a couple of mutual friends. One day out of the blue, she just plopped down and died a few days later. Just like that.... on the 1st day of Ramadhan.
It occured to me that she never got to experience another Ramadhan... that last year's was actually her last. Hopefully she made peace with God.
The terrifying part is, if you're not ready... who's gonna tell you when? Will later be too late?
And if not now, is there gonna be a tomorrow?
Questions, questions...
Selamat berpuasa! Hope this Ramadhan will shed a new light upon us all.
Saturday, September 08, 2007
...to take a deep breath of island air, knowing that several time zones separate me from all the things I worry about.
A lifelong need for small obscure places, a passion that's a lot like gambling.
...Those are the things you miss about the islands when you are away.
Give the islands some time and it will take over, like an addiction. It gets to a point where you divide your life into two parts: 1. the years you spend among the islands. 2. other stuff.
As the sky turns grey the islands separate themselves from sea and stars and the morning sun offers a shade of blue and green that i would - that I have- travelled halfway around the world to see again.
The easy ones are connected by major airlines. The difficult ones can be reached by local airlines and in some cases, small boats. But the vast majority are the damn near impossible. Those are the ones that break your heart, especially if you saw them once and swore you'd go back. Everytime you glance at a map they reproach you. They dance into range. You hear a bout a boat, a private plane. Then, as schedules change, money runs out, weather intervenes, they skip away again. ... These are remote islands, hard-catches. When you've been to them you never forget them. And if you;ve tried and failed, they obsess you. It's a schedule-wrenching, budget-rupturing diversion, but if you hear of a boat or a plane, public or private, headed outside the reef, consider taking it. Granted, it may prolong your trip. It could last a lifetime.
