From Brahma to Buddha, Fall 2008

It’s 10:30 PM India time on the 3rd of October. There is a very good chance this will not be posted before we go on trek, which will render it basically pointless, but what the hell, here it goes anyway:

Dear Mom, Dad, and Bek,
I leave tomorrow for a 9-10 day trek through the scenic Markha Valley to a spectacular mountain top location. It will likely be the most physically demanding experience of my life. Don’t worry; there are pack animals to carry the bags. Chances are it will probably demand quite a bit on the mental and emotional spectrum as well. Don’t worry; there will also be a large artificial family for me to confide in and draw strength from, if sixth grade English taught me anything it’s that you don’t end sentences with prepositions so I will not. You see what I did there? Crap, I ended that one with a preposition. Whatever, to summarize, I feel as though I am heading into this trek, and in many ways this whole three month crucible as a piece of graphite. I’m hoping to emerge from it as a diamond. Hopefully ten days in the mountains or three months in India will be an adequate substitute for a million years of intense heat a pressure deep within the Earth’s crust. I may well emerge a rough diamond, still in need of cutting and polishing, but I feel I might be getting a little to into the analogy, so I’ll just call it quits here. There’s that god damned preposition again…poop. Regardless of what happens on this trip I feel as though I may forever be at the mercy of the English language. Packs of wild dogs live out in the desert here, I’m glad they’ve managed to eek out an existence despite being forgotten by their “best friend.”

The Frequency is Courage
-Doug B.

P.S. I love everyone.