this past wednesday, as i was gettin’ ready for the day, i was feeling a bit anxious. i only had one more sleep in my bed for 6 weeks. and while the trip to india had me feeling a bit unsure – it’s the trip to america that really had me worried. it’s the first time back for the kids and me. which means it’s also the first time they will have to leave america (the old, familiar, probably very comfortable home) to return to chiang mai (the still new home). how unpleasant might it be leaving again? as i was out and about running errands two things occurred that soothed my soul.

1) the kids and i were on the way to the mall to drop c15 off at the movies. as we were driving down the super highway – a highway that is pretty super for here, but basically it’s a boulevard with very few lights – a herd of goats was coming our way. on the inside of the service road. and they were hearded onto the super highway by a car headed up the on ramp. there were maybe 6 adult goats and 3 kids. it gave us all a good chuckle and the chance to say, “we’d never see that in the states.”*

2) that night i headed out to pick michael up from the airport. and almost rear ended an elephant. it was dark and he is dark. he was wearing a flasher on his tail, but it had gotten a bit twisted and was pointed at his rear, which isn’t a reflective surface. i wasn’t going fast, it would have been more of a tap. maybe caused him to sit on the hood of the car. and my first thought was that it would be a bummer if i had hit that elephant and it had sat on the hood of my car because i had no camera!

and i went to sleep – my last sleep in my own bed for 6 weeks – feeling pretty confident that the return trip home – the one that will bring us back to chiang mai – might not be all that difficult.

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* i’m guessing that is something that could happen in the states, but we won’t be visiting areas that allow goat herd gangs.