I believe I’m not that good with goodbyes. Perhaps I’ll call departing notions and words ‘bad-byes.’ Certainly, I’ll return to unite, and that separation is short term, temporary, and therefore, putting forth strong emotions isn’t the biggest investment for me. Nevertheless, I’ll miss the community in Durban, Pretoria, and Joburg on some level.
South African Airlines took me to Joburg, and then from there to Mauritius on a three-hour layover. This rather busy airport in Johannesburg, to be exact, is named Tambo, and it’s where I met Joseph, the photographer while waiting. It’s always great to make a new friend, and this one being so outgoing, it makes it hard to forget someone like Joseph. He was intrigued with my involvement in the role of a renunciation.
“How long have you been into this?” he asked.
“A half a century ago this month, fifty years.”
“Did you say ‘fifteen’?”
“No. Five zero!”
He was surprised.
I guess that I’m celebrating this milestone on this trip in Africa and Mauritius. Once landed at the Mauritian airport, I was rather overwhelmed by the greeting. Before customs I spotted a group of devotees from the local area offering prostrations on the other side of a thick glass window. Kala, the natural leader for the group, held his phone with the info I needed as to my residence in the country during my stay. An official walked me through a privileged line. With my baggage – an ease to pick up – I was then at the exit flooded with flower garlands.
Source: https://www.thewalkingmonk.net/post/hopping-about
Comments