Margaret's already flying home and Mike and I leave the Flying Dog Hostel for the airport in 4 hours. That means this 6 months in South America is coming to an end. And THAT means I have even more reflecting than normal to do. Luckily, it also meant one last beer -- ironically my first Guinness in South America.

So, in the absence of time and eloquence for articulating much of anything now . . . I'll let Hafiz speak for me:

I have a thousand brilliant lies
For the question:

How are you?

I have a thousand brilliant lies
For the question:

What is God?

If you think that the Truth can be known
From words,

If you think that the Sun and the Ocean

Can pass through that tiny opening Called the mouth,

O someone should start laughing!
Someone should start wildly Laughing -- Now!

from "I Heard God Laughing: Renderings of Hafiz" by Daniel Ladinsky