A drive into paradise

The drive is about 50 minutes from my house.  It's freeway all the way, however, so it is a pleasant drive.  The closer I get to my destination the more beautiful the scenery becomes.  About halfway there the hills start.  In fact, that part of the drive is named in Spanish for its colinas, its rolling hills.  Not much farther the trees thicken on the hills into sheer forests.  Oh it's beautiful.

And this day I was needing this drive as therapy in the worst way.  Some days I just need to talk.  My good linguist friend lives in apartments in a forest of trees on the grounds of the Graduate Institute of Applied Linguistics,  The paths, many of which are natural, wind in and around the trees with benches and picnic tables scattered along them.  This particular day was a perfect 72 degrees with no wind and smelled fresh from an afternoon downpour that lasted about 30 minutes.  He and I walked to one of the tables to spend the next two hours just talking.

Serene is only one attribute of the setting.  Rich is another.  The people that walked by the tables were all people who have committed a considerable  number of years to the study of languages around the world.  They all have a story to tell for they all have given up so much to live outside the U.S. to work in hostile environments or in 3rd world settings.  So sitting among a mixture of oaks and cedars and pines, I felt a certain reverence for the place.

We talked for 2 1/2 hours about a wide range of subjects, but mostly language related ones.  My friend and I have been friends since we met at a different campus years ago and had a class or two together.  Our personal paths in life are pretty similar, so the conversations we have are always comfortable, honest, and full of what we have encountered in our respective jobs.  For now, he is on furlough from Nigeria, so I got to hear stories from another continent.

The main thing is, I guess, that I needed 2 1/2 hours of therapeutic listening and talking in such a serene and rich setting that delivered peace to my inner soul, enhanced by the talk of Nigeria, conferences, other friends in their respective countries, and some of their stories.

It's a beautiful thing to drive home from such a pocket of time.  It was as if I had wined and dined with a king who lived in paradise.  The food and wine for the soul renewed a soiled spirit and harried heart.