Remembering Why We're Here

In our day-to-day routines of hotel living, it's easy to forget why we're doing this. Yesterday while voting for the Bloggies I discovered a charming site, Dotty Rhino. It's a site for children that teaches about Mkomazi, Tanzania, where endangered black rhinos and spotted wild dogs live. It's adjacent to the Tsavo National Park in Kenya and Mount Kilamanjaro is nearby. Seeing the adorable rhino on the front page reminded me that East Africa is our reward. Seeing these animals in person in their natural habitat, even possibly living side-by-side with some of them, is our reward. Escaping some of the self-imposed "problems" of modern American living is our reward.

When placed in the big picture, so many of the things I think about daily really are minor quibbles that don't matter.

Now: I'm out of half and half and it's too cold to walk a block to the store to buy more! In Africa: I'm out of half and half... do they even sell that here?

Now: In the produce aisle, organic or conventional? California grown or imported from Mexico? Hothouse grown? Hydroponic? In Africa: This is what grew. Buy it or don't.

Right now I'm trying to let go of some of those things that don't really matter. I actually have a lot of spare time here, and it's nice to get out of the hotel room, so I may as well walk to the store for half and half.