January 30, 2008
From Puerto Vallarta, MEXICO
If not now, when? That was the question that propelled me on into this week in the sun. I am with a good friend in the condo of another good friend. The sound of the ocean is very powerful here – so much so that I close the balcony door before attempting sleep. Yesterday evening Linda and I walked the cobblestone streets of the old part of the city until I needed a rest so we went into a nondescript Catholic church and sat down. An elderly couple (probably close to Charles and my age though the term would never cross our lips in reference to ourselves). They both knelt down right inside the door and commenced to walk slowly and painfully up the side aisle on the concrete floor. Their destination was a side altar near the front of the church. I think about them and wonder if this was a singular journey of contrition or perhaps an act of daily supplication.
We return to the cold plains and our dear ones tomorrow and I will write more then.