Take Comfort

Hazel passed away on October 17th at 6:08 pm. My aunt said that there was peace throughout the house when it happened. Logically, I agree with that. I am happy she is released from her suffering. But, being a simple human, I am sad for everything we have lost because she isn't with us anymore. When I stand outside of the whole thing, I think I am lucky to learn something about comfort right now. I'm seeking it for myself, and finding that it looks different than I have always imagined. I found comfort in sleeping at Hazel's house, in her bed, imagining that I was a child curled up beside her. I woke up, and she wasn't there. I found comfort in recalling her memory with family, but it led to guilt about all the missed opportunities. I found comfort in sharing her home and a meal with family, only to realize that I was experiencing the last gathering we would have like that. I find comfort in faith that God has set life in motion and His hand in our life is intentional, loving, careful, steady...though no offense to God, I find His plan too slow for my taste quite a bit of the time. On Monday morning I found comfort in a chocolate cupcake. Honestly, it lasted. I think it is because I sought it out in despair (sounds dramatic, I know...it was a rough Monday morning, okay?), and the goodness of the cupcake did offer something. Other than that, nothing anyone says or does, no experience I give to myself has provided lasting comfort. What I learned this week was that even if no singular thought or action does provide lasting comfort, efforts at comfort do seem to gain something in collective form. I often hesitate to write sympathy cards, because I feel it is egotistical -- what could I say to make someone feel better about real, definite loss? Now I understand. It is impossible to take away loss, but being reminded of the goodness of life -- being reminded of friendship, of the unwavering love that is family -- being reminded of the goodness in this world is a wonderful distraction.

India Outsources Visa Process to Travisa

Our Indian Visa applications are now in the mail. I hope we have as good of luck getting those back as we did with the China Visas. What I found humorous about this process is that India has outsourced their visa process. It is now impossible to go to a consulate and just apply in person. Everyone must submit their application to Travisa and pay the $13 processing charge. To their credit, Travisa had a pretty slick and straightforward website.

What will they think of next?

The bad news: Our 94 Sentra suffered a terrible fate. It died about two weeks ago, and the doctor bill was said to range from $1000-$2000. Too much for people focused on saving money for a trip around the world...so we had to let her go.

The good news: We put our sad little Sentra on the local equivalent of Craigslist, and someone called wanting to give our Sentra a second life as an "ELECTRIC CAR". If cars were religious...and Hindu...I think this would be Nirvana for our little Sentra....(or, I guess somewhere slightly below Nirvana since the Sentra will still be alive, just reincarnated into something so exciting and futuristic.)

I googled "convert your car to an electric car", and discovered that for about $7000-$10000, you can fully convert any light-bodied car into an electric car that will run forever, for the cost of plugging it in every night and replacing a battery every 3-4 years. Supposedly they go 50-90 mph, and can go on trips of about 50-80 miles at a time.

We love you lil' Sentra...I hope they treat you well.

More about converting a car: http://www.treehugger.com/files/2007/09/converting_your.php