The beautiful journey

Over and over in my mind and through my senses I have tried to sum up this journey. Occasssionally I have come here and recorded its moments in words. I have pasted pictures but a small few to those stored cllectively in our hearts. As a family we have been blessed to have much time together and as Fred says in his last blog "from laughter to sadness". As a couple we even manged to etch out some time that remains special to us and as parents we remain clueless to what impact this will have on Fred but we have seen him grow into a very social person. Compliments of him from people we have meet along this way encourage us. We have also had that chance through the marvel of  social media to share but importantly to feel watched over as we journeyed with care and attention. 

What did it teach me? That the world and the miniscule part I have seen and experienced is a varied, diverse, rich, poor, strange, surprising, unpredictable, scary, loving, kind, thoughtful and one big interacting cosmos here on earth tha twe should enjoy and rejoice and clearly take care of it. That love and kindness are bigger than hate and judgement but the press seem to tell us the latter!  That we are one race (thats a fact in  DNA terms) and one citizen of earth.  I know that for some people when its all too big and complex, feel left behind by broken promises they feel safer at home and local. I have seen and walked in the fortressess built through the centuries. Its just more of the same. Unless you are brave enough to reach out and keep reaching the walls may become our collective tomb. You dont have to travel to do that. Reach out with kindness and not judgement, reach out with curiousity and not descrimination. Feel proud of your home but treat it like a guest house not a fort. For you will never know when you need to be aguest in anothers home. Love to you all xx

So, this is how I summed up six months on the road.

This beautiful journey
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Breath-taking beauty has beguiled us in each step
The wonders of geography offered up like an indulgent feast at a wondrous banquet
Traversing roads and highways lined with colour and drama
Taking in splashes of splendour in every turn
Landscapes to rival the moon to the lush varied greenery that feeds the soul
Sounds of nature that gently soothes the senses
From desert heat that draws your breath to humidity that wets your back
Sun in greater measure but rains that run over us with warm fingers 
A journey filled with its own nostalgia as we recall the early discoveries we made
An ending filled with joy of having come so far and shared so much
Yet a touch of sadness as we say goodbye
If what our eyes witnessed was unparalleled beauty
That what we heard from natures mouth, whispering ever enchanting calls, made us mindful
To the tastes and smells that quenched every appetite 
Then that which filled our hearts most, was more than all this
Along the way we felt the kindness of strangers
The wonder of friendship made in moments of meeting
The openness of guests
To be witness to people doing more than we could ever imagine with the least amount of opportunity
To be witness to love and kindness, is the beautiful journey we made

Dean Repper, 28th day of December 2016 in Mumbai.