mosquitos, elephants and a February SALE

Don’t sweat the small stuff depends on whether you’re sleeping with mosquitos. It never seizes to amaze me how you can be in the deepest sleep when the vibratory hum of a thirsty mosquito hovering over your ear can attract your wide awake and undivided attention.

Before we left Kovalam Beach we got sick and turned off the air conditioning to aid in a faster recovery. We opened all the windows but there are rarely screens here. We had fans and windows on all sides, burned lemongrass sticks and used essential oil bug spray but still mosquitos had the best of us for three nights.

We had to awaken early on the third morning to go to the airport and we were very ready to leave the touristy beach town, especially the mosquitos. I don’t remember us ever packing so quickly or leaving so early for the airport.

We arrived at 6:30 at the airport only to discover that our flight had been canceled. Noooo! There was a large lineup of upset customers at the Airline window and they were offering flights for the afternoon of the following day at best. This was very bad news. There was no way I was going to spend another night at the same place. I found us a flight on another airline and we could fly out in the evening. Now what would we do with our sick and sleepless selves for the next twelve hours?

One of the things that I really wanted to do this time in India was to be in the presence of elephants since they live in southern India. Because we got sick in the few remaining free days in Kerala that opportunity had slipped away. Now we had 12 free hours, so we hired a car to drive us to the Elephant Rehabilitation Centre to go to bask in the presence of these majestic creatures.

To be walking openly among them is such a gift. Their emotional intelligence exudes from the 200 billion pores of their mammoth and exquisite bodies. It’s been almost a week and I go to bed researching them a little more and I wake up thinking of them; the contact that we made were like love affairs. Even unrequited, it fills me with awe. Such beauties.

We watched them be bathed and fed. I knew before we went that they would be in chains and that upset me. I wasn't sure how I'd react when there. They were in chains but they were definitely not ill treated. These gentle giants weigh up to two tons and eat 200-600 lbs of food a day. After lunch we watched one of the biggest ones walk to his home in the woods with his trainer and he was off chain so it seems they also know freedom. These elephants are rescued or aged working elephants, injured or orphaned. You could feel a depth of heart from their caregivers and sense a very respectful communication between them. Even chained. It was beautiful.

Thank you mosquitos for motivating us to be creative with our time. Thank you airline for canceling the flight and enabling a dream to come to life. This is one more example of trusting and surrendering that things will work out. When I can be willing to be ok with what is, things always work out. When I am ready to let go of how I think something should be, what unfolds almost always blows my mind and surpasses any expectations I can hope for.

And when we set our intentions and goals it’s also important to let go of how we think it will come in order for true receptivity to happen. I was so sure that when we got sick we lost our opportunity to see the elephants, period! Whatever we think we know is only a fraction of the possibilities. Yet we hang on to controls like we are captain of the ship. Being human is a lot a things, including funny.

Gala has been keeping me appraised of the tough couple of weeks the elements have stirred in many parts of Canada and the States. Don't cry..

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E N J O Y 2 0 % O F F S I T E W I D E

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