Places of Me

I went to the Vatican, once, because the Sistine Chapel was already closed that day. I don't remember what it was like to see the Pieta in person, I only know that I saw it.

In October, I went to an evensong service at Westminster Abbey, in London. I wrote down part of the prayer that ended the service in a little notebook, because I thought the words were beautiful, but I seem to have misplaced the notebook. I hope I find it again.

I saw Buckingham Palace in the rain.

In Egypt, I rode a horse in the desert, at full gallop and in view of the pyramids.

I stood, alone, on the cliff overlooking Cape Farewell, New Zealand, and found my way down to the beach where seals were sunning themselves outside the caves where they lived.

One dark night I walked along the white beach of Koh Sahmet, Thailand, and watched lightning flash behind the clouds, turning them purple.

I've seen the sun rise over Jerusalem, gleaming on the golden Dome of the Rock, and I had tea under a tent with a Bedouin family, on the mountain above the ancient city of Petra in Jordan.

I swam and floated in the Dead Sea.

Here is a picture of my favorite place in the world. It is in Walnut Creek, California, not far from the busy streets of that city. But far enough.