Gratitude for a Dream Come True: Visiting the Tibetan Plateau in not-so-good-shape and when not-so-young

I don't know when it will be that this blog will get in any order. The order of the photos is all messed up, and not all captions came through. But I thank those of you who have waded through and understood something about Ladakh. I should eventually move all the photos off to an album....to make it easier to view.(my sister's always sage advice)

I've just been looking since my return at our photographs of an ineffably beautiful place and the trip that was such a blessing in my life! It was really my lifelong dream come true, to go to the Tibetan Plateau, to be blessed enough to spend time with people there, to drink butter tea in remote villages, to blend in even for a moment in this lifetime with those loved faces by lamplight, and to have the honor of helping in some small ways. I always knew, since seeing photographs in very early childhood, that that was the place for me.

I had given up any hope of this ever happening in this lifetime, and when it did, I figured I'd probably die somewhere along the way, and was even ready to accept that possibility. And so. I am so grateful for the concatenation of people's words and events that allowed this blessing in my life, and for my family's enthusiasm. I will ever grieve Tim Russert's passing, and send love and appreciation to his whole family for his life, but it was the day he died that I bet my bottom dollar and bought my ticket,thinking of a friend's earlier words "We don't know how much time we have left" - and so I thank Tim Russert too.

But most of all I thank my daughter Honna, who encouraged me over and over to come to the remotest parts of India and told me I could do it. She even bought a little oxygen tank to allay my fears!(which I saw that first night in Delhi but never again, and never needed... (I suspect airport officials confiscated it, though she always assured me it was in her bag)... And she cured my killer head-ache mid-trip with her pranic-healing skills and a little dab of codeine! Seriously, I believe, and know, I was in some kind of trouble that night, and I doubt I'd have had the gumption to survive that headache without her being there.

I have so much appreciation and admiration for the work of Helena Norberg-Hodge in Ladakh, and also to Stephen Bezruchka who wrote the very comforting and encouraging pocket-sized book "Altitude Illness: Prevention and Treatment"- which thank God I didn't need to consult on the trip, but consulted plenty beforehand! And I didn't take altitude meds! I thank my doctor for telling me to just drink water, plenty of water.

Amazing grace! That's what it is- I've been living for the last month in a state of grace, which I humbly acknowledge. Thanks be to God, Alleluia.
Ju-leh!