himalayan birches from humla

i finally found those beautiful white bark himalayan birches (boj patra) i've been seeking for a few decades in nepal!!

i was in remote simikot, humla (far, far northwestern nepal) for the first time the other day. i'd gone up by charter flight from nepalganj w/ professors khanal and hachhethu, surendra, renu, neha and aruna, for our second to last undp-sponsored 'federalism dialogues' in the proposed jadan province.

of course, since i've been desperately seeking one of those gorgeous birch trees for our yard (botanical garden...), it was on my mind to ask about them when i got there. i'd read that they come from the high 'lekh' of these isolated mountains. i've never actually seen one in kathmandu. although birches are known to grow pretty much everywhere, both in a wide range of climates, as well as all around the world.

so, within a half hour of getting off the plane and strolling up to the lodge, i asked if anyone knew about them up there. neither my friends nor the local community folk seemed to immediately know what i was asking about -- until someone brought a huge pile of white birch bark from their home! i felt like i could have been back in summer camp in the adirondacks, not the high himalaya...

a few days later, a villager did me the kind (justly rewarded) favor of climbing some 3-4 hours up the ridge to bring down a six tender saplings from the distant ridge-top forest. they have a radiant, shimmering copper colored bark at this young age w/ distinctive white spots (mumps??). quite cute, if you ask me...

so, when we were leaving that dirt runway on the ridge-side in simikot, towering snow-capped mountains all around us, my only concern was not letting the airline take that precious muddy bag from me while checking in. white gold, i guess. of course, my 'friends', neha, renu and aruna were laughing at me. neha even teasingly telling me that the airlines wouldn't let such plants on the plane!

ha!

but i still didn't trust anyone that my petite birch saplings wouldn't disappear en route back to k'du. even though everyone else was more concerned about bringing their ruddy, fresh apples back from humla to eat, i could only see the beauty of these long-sought birch tree youngsters and, like ones' own children, felt immensely protective of mine. i wasn't concerned about what i was going to eat when i was back in k'du, but could only imagine the beauty of these petite saplings when they matured in our backyard with the lush shivapuri ridge as a backdrop.

maybe it's true, as they say that 'we are what we eat' -- but for me, i think it's actually more 'i am what i plant'...

although later that evening, on the commercial flight from n'ganj to k'du, after getting through the less than rigorous nepali airport security, the yeti airlines stewardess put her hand up and wouldn't let me carry the dripping wet sack on the plane. i explained, that these were 'mero ek dum maya-lagyko birwa!' -- but the tough-minded, but polite, stewardess forced me to hand them over to the ground crew, promising me, tough and sweetly, that i'd get them back as soon as i got off the yeti plane in kathmandu.

frozen smile...

so, when i finally got out of the plane an hour later, i nearly jumped down the outside stairs in the dark asking where my sack of saplings were. fortunately, they immediately appeared out of the cargo bin and the dirty sack was more than gladly handed back to me. i guess it's true that beauty (or love of nature...) is in the eyes of the beholder...

these little mountain creatures are now safely in bags of homegrown soil in our backyard nursery in budhanilkantha. i watered them down immediately when we got home about 9 pm the other night. then, in the morning, asked tek to put them in soil while i was at work. when i got home i found them resting comfortably out back by our compost, like kids at play, capturing the last rays of the day.

even though they obviously are most at home in those high himalayan altitudes, i hope they thrive out here on the rim of the valley. after all, since most everything else grows in k'du, maybe, these elegant himalayan birches will find this a suitable environment, too...

the way the rest of us of a variety of human species have...

drop by sometime, if you have the time, to meet these youngsters,

if you'd like!

Surprise at Georgetown!

The surprise worked!!

Josh had NO idea that Ez was travelling w/ me to the East Coast. Josh was a bit late meeting at the front gate of Georgetown, while Ez was lingering in the shadows. Then when Josh appeared and he and I hugged, Ez came from behind and tapped Josh on the shoulder. You shud have seen his delight, joy and affection. Josh was totally thrilled and excited.

Coming the week after Sudip came down and Silas surprised him here in DC (commenting that DC appears so much easier to live in than NYC and so much like a European city than an American one...), having Ez come the following week has sent Josh's emotional joy levels to the stratosphere. It was such a joy to see Josh so happy last night. Both of them were entranced to see the other one! Ez has been in hibernation mode and doing it well since July, so being in a city was a bit of a shock for him, as he commented. But then f2f with Josh brought him right back into the family groove and a father cudn't have been happier than I was seeing them together last night. If the purpose of my trip was to reunite my sons again, after their months apart and new life directions, then it was all, all, worth it!!

These, as you know, are the moments we live for...

The three of us took a long stroll around Georgetown before settling in at the Mexican restaurant i'd been to before w/ Josh last year. A full pitcher of margaritas, chips and nachos had us rolling along long before our dinners came later. It was such a pleasure to hear our two young men chatting, discussing, musing on their worlds and the world around us. There was a total delight in sharing each others' company, being together again, and learning what they were studying, who they were hanging with and what they were doing since they were last together in June, a long four months ago.

It makes me want even more to be sure that we are together as a family regularly, even as we live apart. Josh said a few times how much he misses Leah and wants to be back to enjoy part of her childhood. Ez and I had many a conversation about Ms. Leah while we were walking up to Vernal Falls or around Convict Lake in California. Both boys love that sister of theirs, even as we know that they live in different worlds much of the time and that Leah feels that, even when there, they 'don't play with me...'. Still, the bond is powerful, profound and lifelong. What a gift for all of us!

Today, Josh said he'd make us dal bhaat, so I needed to wake Ez up about noon. Of course, he and Josh had a later night together back at Josh's dorm. I was high enough after the margaritas and joy of being together, not to mention the four hours sleep in Reno b/c of the Ezi ID crisis (when we realized he didn't have a picture ID and had to get someone at DSC to scan a copy of his passport to him that night to be able to get through airport security the next morning).

So I walked back to the Holiday Inn on my own. Ez came in sometime in the middle of the night. Plus, he's been working relentlessly at DSC, including 4 am runs to milk the two cows (Ruth and Lilith), so he's exhausted and could use a couple days of 12 hours sleep, methinks. Josh seems more energized, as he's had great visits w/ Silas and Sudip, plus made a commitment to himself to dig in and get good grades here so that he is eligible to go to SOAS in lLndon next year, if that is still what he wants.

Josh also has a bunch of midterm exams next week, as well, so he's working hard to do well on those before, I'm sure, getting ready to relax a bit again. Ez has this week to catch up on his sleep, before returning to more full-time intensity of academic studies, student government and being the 'milk boy' for the next few months (which means daily 4 am strolls in the darkness to milk the cows).

Thursday night, while Josh studied, Ez and I made another visit to the Folger Shakespeare library on Capitol Hill. We saw "Henry the VIIIth", a lesser known Shakespeare play that was first played under a dark cloud, as the cannon that went off during the play burned down the theater. We had no fireworks, but an exquisite play about power. marriage, court intrigue, royal-church relations and the cunning, lustful nature of man. It's such a joy to see real theater!

Then, yesterday, by one of the new bus companies, Megha Bus, I think, where folks of all varieties wait on a green in DC while the buses park disgorge, load and head off back on up the highways. Continuing to enjoy Victor Hugo's "The Hunchback of Notre Dame" while enjoying the autumn colors along the crowded highways north.

To Philadelphia, Mom's birthday and Claudia's family with Josh and Ez...

Deep Springs or Bust!

i'm at Deep Springs College, at last!

after nearly a year wondering what this strange new world that ez had uncovered is all about, i arrived here after the himalayan policy research conference in madison on flights to reno via an incredibly (incredibly!!) beautiful drive south along the eastern sierra mountains with poplar groves bursting into gold and the raw ridges dusted with snow stretching toward the great basin of california.

i actually arrived at deep springs that first day about 6 pm, right before dusk. i wanted to get there before the light fizzled and i could see the distant green from miles away as i rose up a narrow wadi from big pine in landscape that wud be fully at home in the judean wilderness or tibetan plateau. at last, a highway sign that said, 'deep springs', to the right as a rough road lead through the alfafa fields to the gateway of one of the most isolated and unique college campuses in the world.

what a joy to get a big hug from ez as he strolled toward me on the open green of the ranch/campus and see him happy as usual here in his brave, isolated new world... a beautiful, intended, intellectual oasis in the desert landscape. a handful of his college friends are here, a couple of other parents, as well, a cat, a dog, two cows... well, you get the picture.

in fact, i got up w/ ez at 4 am (to the alarm clock of a van morrison song in ez' spacious room...) under the stars to go out to milk the two cows (lilith and ruth) and feed their four calfs in the dark. ez is the new cow boy for the winter, so he's learning the tricks of the trade from eamon, a friend from wisconsin. he was already much more practiced than me, as i filled my tin bucket at about half the pace of ez til he finally took over and finished the deed.

in brief, ez seems very comfortable in his skin, as always. he's wickedly busy w/ his academics w/ three courses this term, the required public speaking and composition classes, an optional auto mechanics and his regular jobs.

yet, he seems to swim very easily w/ it all. last night he gave me the synopsis of his course on the history of the Congo which seems to really animate him (Belgan treachery; European colonialism; Congoese corrugption; Mobuto's greed, American hypocrisy and the tragedy for the people). he's equally enthralled w/ Count Tolstoi and War & Peace, plus many of his other writings. intellectually, he seems to bursting out all over! but, he says, as well, that the time required for the academia is more than he wanted, not to mention the infamous SB (student body) which meets every friday for hours and hours and hours in managing their own estate -- as he still came here for some of that thoreau walden isloation and reflection, which he doesn't get enough.

for me, father of the story, it all seems quite good, encouraging and engaging. remarkable, actually. maturing, deeply. unique, absolutely!

ez and i spent our next day taking a four mile walk in bristlecone national forest about 10,000 way up in the white mtns just a few miles north of the deep springs valley. amazing gnarled, ancient trees, the oldest in the world at 5,000 years! great to stroll in that fresh mountain air, with the threat of rain, chatting the whole time while it drizzled a bit and the views down to bishop and the valleys below were amazing! the eastern sierra, so much drier than on the west side facing the ocean. here we're facing nevada and the deserts that stretch out to the rockies. it's a whole different feel of our america, vast, purple mountains majesty as they say, and untamable. beautiful.

then, since time is so tight (and gracious...), we drove to yosemite on monday en route back to reno by tuesday night. the drive along the east side of the sierra was magnificent, both coming and going. so beautiful, open, idyllic, wild and grand. we stopped where my friend, greg in k'du, said there was an exquisite side valley, by convict lake. the seen was so refined and charmed that we walked an hour or two around the lake to the base of the tall mountains, where a bevy of streams came out filling the landscape w/ willows and the clusters of popular trees inflamed w/ golden leaves against the stone mountains as we ambled on the well-made wooden walkway with the fresh, cool waters trundled into the lake.

afterward, we went down to the edge of the vast mono lake with undescribable space, wide open space all around and clouds billowy and white just seemingly sitting in the sky, unmoving and painted there like a raphael landscape...

in the late afternoon the drive through twuolme meadows above the yosemite valley in those fields of granite was another one for the books. i've driven many places in the world, but i will never tire of the approach to yosemite. sans doubt, g-d's gift to the americans and the new world. thank uncle teddy for creating these national parks so that there are not corporate sponsors all over the place. the fact that it only costs $20 still to enter the park is a gift of our federal government and wise, caring souls who appreciate the grandeur of such natural wonders. like a few years ago at crater lake, i'm transformed...

of course, leaving it late, there was no room at the elegant ahwanhee hotel where i wanted to treat ez, so we went to the other end of the spectrum with an unheated tent cabin in curry village. fortunately, we can do either end of the cultural divide and it was fun to be back in one of the most international, cosmpolitian campsites in the world. we sat down for our margaritas and burgers with an english couple, a former policeman who had escorted king birendra when he was on an official visit to england, and two cute, freckled young danish women who were visiting a friend in sf and took a couple days for yosemite while watching another disastrous performance by the yankees in the play-offs.

ironically, earlier we'd been at the same curry campsite and restaurant with the davis clan watching the 1998 world cup, france vs brazil with a racoon in the tree overhead some years before... the circles and cycles of time...

josh still doesn't know ez is coming east, i think. it will be a lovely surprise for him, hopefully! i've tried to keep this one as quiet as possible, b/c josh will be absolutely delighted to see ez in dc. from DSC to DC, as i say. it'll mean a lot, naturally, for ez to make his way all the way east, even or because it's only a few days, josh will appreciate it even more.

there's nothing more important for a parent than to see your children close and caring for each other. these two young men have begun to form lives more and more distinct and separate from each other now that they have both left lincoln, kathmandu, now their good two years at NMH and, at last, in colleges of their own choices. the future is theirs and yet to be written...

but for moi, what a joy! what an opportunity! the beauty of california rediscovered through my son and my sons rediscovered through me...

allah-hum-dillah, as they say!

by the grace of G-d, we are fortunate to be human beings in this risky and incredibly stunning natural world!!

Shana Tova

it's the jewish new year tonight, so when you look up at those distant stars, think how a long time ago, our patriarchal fathers rode by camel across the desert from the euphrates through syria to the promised land where they settled and found both a home and religion under the unity of a single god, whose name we will never know or pronounce.

they understood.

all those nights watching the same stars we see, the utter emptiness, spaciousness and endless beauty of existence.

they knew of kant's moral law, long before that prussian philosopher gave words to it in his high german bhasa. they could feel it beating with their heart in the silence and numina that the desert offered. they didn't need youtube, mtv or itunes (regina specktor singing now...) to remind them of the uniqueness and fragility of their existence.

they knew enough to write their stories to praise their g-d. they knew enough to bow their heads in respect for a world that gave them existence, eyes to see, a heart to feel and a body to touch. simple truths, but profound ones.

ones the pace, problems and superficiality of our modern world can dissemble.

so, for this one day of the year, we, children of that ancient race, ancient creed, ancient religion, look up, once again, at those sparkling stars above, shimmering in a sea of blackness and possibility. we thank this dear, distant, immediate g-d for all that we don't understand and the little we do.

at this moment, when the rains are ebbing, the harvests are collected and we know that the shorter days of winter are ahead, we take a moment and rejoice in the cycle of life. the blessings of parents and, most definitely, children. for some of the most fortunate, grandchildren even.

simple, ancient truths. the turning of the gyre. the thankfulness that we can send our love to each other. bless you, sons. my your days be long and your joys bountiful.

with the love of a parent to a child.

Buddha In Glory

Buddha In Glory

Center of all centers, core of cores,
almond self-enclosed and growing sweet --
all this universe, to the furthest stars
and beyond them, is your flesh, your fruit.

Now you feel how nothing clings to you;
your vast shell reaches into endless space,
and there the rich, thick fluids rise and flow.
Illuminated in your infinite peace,

a billion stars go spinning through the night,
blazing high above your head.
But in you is the presence that
will be, when all the stars are dead.


New Poems
1907/08
Rainer Maria Rilke

alas. along. alone. alove. the...

the land of the valley is being covered and traduced one way or another these days.

there's some excessive, ruinous 'plotting' up here across from where nick and kerry lived, next to karma and pia, and past us on the road to tokha.

fortunately, it's pretty quiet on our immediate periphery.

one bureaucrat built a home in our way back but that's where i planted the 'dhungri' bamboo (nepal's biggest) that christopher and i brought back from charikot my last year at save (four years ago... It's among the fattest/tallest bamboo we have, so his three story home has disappeared behind lush, big bamboo leaves above a rock garden that i've been digging out the past few months on the w/end.

so, all's good with the wide open, forested view of the 8,000' shivapuri ridge line from the backyard.

but, eyes wide open, we all know, it's coming, it's comin' and it ain't stopping...

the ancient, once sacred valley is filling up with habitation and housing well before the proposed, promised federal republic of nepal can spread the wealth and construction out to future provincial capitals around the country.

but it's late, very late for the beauty of this place.

alas. along. alone. alove. the...

as joyce wrote a long time ago about his beloved, bespoiled, emerald land...

The Churning, Whizzing, and Whirrrling of the World around Ezra

Hey Phamily,

Whoosh! Josh is gone, I'm gone, we're all going -- but where to, where to?

In relation to each other, in a spacial context, I suppose we are forever moving apart now, then back together, moving apart now and then back together.

Never at the same distance apart.

However, through the lens which we see the world (our own lens) it seems less so that we are moving and more so that the world is churning, whizzing, and whirrrling.

I have indeed heard of "Looking for Eric", in fact I have watched it! It is a really wonderful little film (funny how we use little describe things we find quaint when really it is only as little or large as any other film). I suppose I also mean little in that it doesn't claim to have the scope or breadth of all the world -- instead it focuses on one man and his pains and struggles to come to terms with the churning, whizzing, and whirrrling of the world around him.

Perhaps I am biased, as a Manchester United fan, but it really was wonderful -- technically, I believe, it is a 'comedy', but it doesn't allow that tag to inhibit it from telling a story. Lovely.

Speaking of lovely films, several weeks back we watched a beautiful film -- we almost saw it in New York once -- it's a Japanese film called 'Departures'. I forget if you guys saw it, but if you haven't, get a hold of it. I really enjoyed it.

You didn't tell me about Patricia and Phillipe -- it's been a while since I've seen either of them -- I'm sorry to hear about their problems. Still, it seems to me that perhaps Patricia's anger is justified and the murky politics of Nepal only continues to get murkier. How the tides turn. It seems that being Tibetan is no longer the 'in' thing it once was -- sad, but true as they search for a home.

As I'm sure you've heard the proposed mosque at ground zero has raised similar passions here in Amrika -- there seem to be so many truths and pains and justice-deserved that there is no right or wrong. A web of wrong-doings that only creates more anger. Makes you want to reject the 'real' world, as Arendt would say, and simply collapse into your 'own' world.

I don't know what my plans for October break are (I don't really have the need to plan that far ahead, I don't even know when my October break is), but I'd be happy to do a trip on the road with you. Just give me specific dates, and I'll tell you what I think. We can figure it out.

Other than that, we made a scarecrow out on the main lawn today after dinner of dolmades, foccacia, hibiscus tea, and cookies.

There is also a fair in Bishop coming up so Karen (the Mitchells are the resident Christian family who have been here for 12+ years; her husband, Ken, is the ranch manager and they live here with their three daughters) is taking a bunch of stuff and has arranged for students to bring the scarecrow, some beef jerky, baked goods, and other stuff from the garden.

As for classes, the next two weeks are sort of trial periods -- right now I'm deciding between Tolstoy & Kafka (thats almost definite), 'Freedom and the State' (that is also pretty certain), and then I have to decide between a Congo/African-colonial-history-type-thing class, 'People & Plants', 'Ethics', or 'Tragedy & Politics'. I'm not entirely sure what all of them are about, but I'll let you know when I find out.

Tomorrow I'll head to 'Freedom and the State' for which we read a Kant essay on 'Enlightenment.' The teachers I've met seem great though, so I'm excited.

Peace frogs. Ezi