I am the lotus, goo goo g'joob

This is the story of how we begin to remember
This is the powerful pulsing of love in the vein
After the dream of falling and calling your name out
These are the roots of rhythm
And the roots of rhythm remain
Under African Skies – Paul Simon with Miriam Makeba 

I had an album or two of Makeba's but simply can’t bring any of her songs to mind this morning. Dammit!
 
Earlier, I woke from a disturbing dream. Ten and I were returning from a trip to Africa. (In real life, I've never been) We had been to Morocco, Cameroon and Senegal – that part was glorious. Then, back in the U.S., at an airport in some unrecognizable West Coast city, we became separated in the crowd at customs.

How would we find each other again in this sea of humans? If we couldn’t, how would I find my way to where we were staying? How would I, as a deaf person, deal with all the officials asking so many questions? I was melting down into a full blown panic attack.

Then I remembered:

• We both have tiny-phones. We’ll call, connect and find each other.
• IF we couldn’t hook up at the airport, I could grab a cab to our crib du jour.
• Dealing with the customs questioners? OH please! I’ve been deaf for 15 years now and have dealt with plenty of inquiring officials, pleasant AND decidedly otherwise. I know this road – easy peasy.

Ten and I DID find eachother at the airport, hopped into his truck and drove straight across a vast, wind tossed lake, to our home for the night.

If you feel lost, disappointed, hesitant, or weak, return to yourself, to who you are, here and now and when you get there, you will discover yourself, like a lotus flower in full bloom, even in a muddy pond, beautiful and strong.
~ Masaru Emoto, Secret Life of Water 

Some beautiful paths can't be discovered without getting lost.
~ Erol Ozan

They say that somewhere in Africa the elephants have a secret grave where they go to lie down, unburden their wrinkled gray bodies, and soar away, light spirits at the end
~ Robert R. McCammon, Boy's Life

Our fathers fought bravely. But do you know the biggest weapon unleashed by the enemy against them? It was not the Maxim gun. It was division among them. Why? Because a people united in faith are stronger than the bomb.
~ Ngũgĩ wa Thiong’o, A Grain of Wheat 

 This “faith” which Ngũgĩ referenced was faith in the resistance – Kenyans fighting for independence from British rule. If sane Americans can steer clear of division, if we can, like the Kenyans, unite in our resistance of Preznint Ego-mad Idiot, Moscow Mitch and their disgustingly, disturbed and sycophantic cult, we WILL win. United, we can make a better country for all of us NOT just the über rich.

What I took away from witnessing the broken climbers in Moshi was this: “Everything is easy until it isn’t.”
~ Josh Gates, Destination Truth: Memoirs of a Monster Hunter

The measure of civilized behavior is compassion.
~ Paul Theroux, Dark Star Safari: Overland from Cairo to Cape Town 

Damn straight!