Fruit Season

It's amazing how much easier everything is from here.

I suspect I've made versions of this post before, but it never hurts to remind one's self of things.

I was sitting on a plane at KL airport earlier today, waiting to take off. Since I'm somewhat scared of flying, I was carefully thinking about things unrelated to my potential plummety death. I was reminded once again (since I've been a little grumpy the last few days) of just how lucky I am - and how deeply grateful I am for all the wonderful experiences and choices I have, and the people around me.

After all, I've just spent a relaxing, interesting week in Thailand, and three fabulous days in Kuching, Borneo - city I'm looking forward to visiting enough to love. And here I was on my way to Penang, one of my favourite places in the world, to bask in the warmth, breathe in the spices, visit favourite sights, and eat myself senseless.

Yes, I'll still be unemployed when I get home, and still unsure about what I want to do. And I'm still dealing with chronic pain, and all the limitations and difficulties that go along with that, and the usual assortment of woes and troubles. But really, to be who I am, with the amount of choices I have open to me, and the security of people I care about around me, and a society with relatively effective safety nets, the problems don't seem as large and dramatic as they do when I think about them alone. So I'm very grateful.

And I'm so grateful for the chance to travel!



PS: What does the title of the post mean? It's for my travel companion, the Chocolatier, really. When we were going out to see the orangutans at the rehabilitation last Monday, our guide person told us that they often didn't come to the centre for food when it was fruit season, as they were too busy frolicking in the jungle eating the fresh fruit to bother with the provided food and chattering tourists. So fruit season has come to mean all things fun, well-fed, and full of frolicking.

Luckily for us, fruit season has just finished up for them, but this holiday has definitely been fruit season for us.