Finally…a little light

Yesterday, a Chinese .RAR file came that three computer-savvy Montannans couldn’t open (let me know, if you’ve had success with .RAR). Today, Helen re-sent the three documents in .pdf, the fax copied the red stamps that are so important in China, and my passport’s on its way to get a work visa via priority mail. Temporary relief! We’ll see if the visa gets back in time for me to arrive in SanYa September 20, another cliffhanger.

It’s much like the hike I had recently in Yosemite. There weren’t many people coming down early morning from Vernal Falls, and much of the trail was in shadow. I thought how something seemed very different from similarly-wooded hikes in China, and it dawned on me–there was no trash along the trail! Not even cigarette butts (found in every nature area I visited, often thrown under a “No Smoking” sign). As the trail started sharply upward, I rounded some huge boulders and caught the light coming through thick trees. There wasn’t much time to glory in the moment; a family rested a few steps uphill, and the woman brandished her cell phone and announced, “Hey! I got a signal.” 

     It’s also a little like the conventions I’ve watched recently–picking through tricky deadfall, half-grown ideas, shadowy debris to stay on the trail. I wish you a little light here and there to compare what is seen and heard to what is known and hoped.