To Everything - Turn, Turn, Turn

It's Sunday evening. We fly back to the States on Thursday. I've got a lot more thoughts to try to cram into posts in the next few days; observations we never got around to writing about. But tonight I'm feeling a little thoughtful about leaving.

I can't say I've been looking forward to going back. It's been a good experience for me here in terms of spiritual development, outdoor adventuring, and learning. Geez, I'm just starting to get a handle on Czech. In Spanish I would say, me hallo aqui (I find myself here). So, I've been sort of moody and down on the whole idea of returning, even hoping for more extensive volcanic eruptions (I've got a contingency bike trip planned in case natural or civil disasters ground our plane). I went so far as to forbid the kids to have a smile on their faces when they say how many days before we go.

Well the kids and I just spent the last couple days at a father & children camp for church. There were Czechs, Moldavians, Ukranians, and Americans - all living in the Czech Republic now for one reason or another. It was sort of the ultimate multilingual experience as people spoke or signed or grunted to get their meanings across. It was nice.

Kristine, by the way, went to Prague and saw the opera The Devil and Kate by Antonin Dvorak and followed it up with Marscapone cake at a sugar shop.

So, back to the campout...the pinnacle for me was an early morning walk along a stream that ran through the camp. It was the ultimate Czech landscape (at the base of Mount Blanik - from which the Knights of Blanik will ride forth, led by Saint Vaclav to save the Czechs in their darkest hour). Walking in those woods, through what constitutes paradise for me (terrain and vegetation like the Minnesota River valley), I felt a peace like a fish pond and have accepted that the time has come.

One just hopes that they can take a little of the good things and make them part of life back in Minnesota. Carp and potato salad at Christmas. Swatting girls on the bum at Easter. Sipping herbal tea with breakfast now and again.

The moodiness is gone now and I'm really looking forward to seeing those dear people that collectively make our lives rich and full back on the other side of the world. See you in four days. :)

-Peter