India

I am thinking a lot about India these days.

I have thought about India for many years now. When I read about Amy Carmicheal and Mother Teresa I became fascinated with a culture and land so far away from my world. When we lived in Japan we ate a lot of curry rice, but it was only a few years ago in New Jersey when I tasted real Indian food. At least indian food prepared by Indian people using american ingredients. Wow. I never imagined so many flavors. And cardamom. Wow.

All those flavors opened my mind to the possibility of knowing people very far away, with very different traditions, very different language, very different struggles than what my family might experience, and yet probably very similar, in that we are all humans.

Whenever we read about yet another crisis in India we pray for the families involved. I don't know why they are so important to me. For some reason my heart wants to know them more closely, to get a closer look at their world so I can pray with open eyes.

An opportunity opened up to go to India through our church this month. I plan to leave Jan. 30th and return Feb. 13th. This is a calmer period on the farm. No goat babies or lambs or chickies. No goats to be milked. Seeds are ordered but can wait til I get back to be planted. Philip, Maggie and Patrick will take turns milking Coco and the whole rest of the family will care for the feeding and watering of the other animals.

I will greatly miss the farm and the family for two weeks. Even so, I can hardly wait for the trip. Less than three weeks away. I hope to co-lead a cheese making workshop and maybe an Indian food class: panir, naan and vegetarian curry to raise some funds for the trip. I wonder how India will change me. My friends who have lived there or traveled there assure me it will.

Farm life will continue, but I will keep you posted about the big journey. Wonder if I could get my dad to come to Virginia on a mission trip? One that would involve cooking a few meals, telling a few stories, and general farm consulting??? Hmmmm...

BTW, the moon was full yesterday, but I couldn't see it at all, yesterday or today. Too many clouds. I felt greatly disappointed. It was brilliant on Friday night. So clear. Made me quite pleased to be outside milking, enjoying the crisp evening and the bright spotlight. All those clouds have brought us a nice amount of rain. The pond is full. The garden and field have puddles. We would not be terribly disappointed if those clouds brought us a nice amount of snow that would stick around for more than a couple of hours!!!