Thursday, February 28, 2013

Glorious Bougainvillea

After 6 weeks in the tropics, i come home to snow and shiver the moment i step out of the airport.

The flowers and fruit of southeast Asia are glorious. Bougainvillea abounds. In Thailand, we drove by miles of multi-colored blooming bougainvillea in the median strip--a beautiful and very appealing sight to see during a 4-hour drive.

I come home to a pathetically blooming bougainvillea in my solarium.

I attended 2 meditation retreats: one in Yangon and one near Chiangmai in northern Thailand. There i saw the easy, daily access to Buddhist practice that is interwoven into people's lives.

Now i am home where i have to make an effort to attend to my spiritual practice if i don't want to look like my small, faded bougainvillea.