Musings

And a what a wild ride it was. Beyond wearing my more than my 30-year-old business hat, this year and one of tour leader/duckling herder, I also rallied at finishing up a fantastic large, commissioned carving that had been my charge for almost a year. Balancing all three jobs, in addition to catching up with all my local loved ones, kept me moving full time. Thankfully, Bali has a buzz of energy that I draw on unconsciously whenever I am there, and that keeps me smiling and grounded no matter what presents itself.

Outside the window of my airplane, just beyond the tip of the wing, Mt. Agung popped her craggy rim through the cloud cover, exposing herself to the heavens. From my seat, 29 A, I felt as though she was winking at me “so long, see you soon.”  Yesterday, as I departed my beloved Bali to return to my beloved Bill, waiting for me at home in Philadelphia, I cried. I cry every single time my plane roars to lift off, and equally hard when wheels are down on the tarmac.

As hard as it is to let go of the lovely and alliterative name From Bali to Bala, we relocated our home from Bala Cynwyd to Mt. Airy over five years ago, and we hadn’t held the show in our Bala living room since way back in 2004. Letting go of Bala and embracing Us has long been coming. I am forever explaining what Bala is, where or why the name is so. Pushed to change is what it took.

My husband thinks I am having an affair because my phone dings all night long with incoming texts. He sleeps mostly like a baby, but I am up at all hours responding to these overseas connections, careful not to wake him. Halfway around the globe, during their daylight hours, my Indonesian contacts text me photos of the various crafts for me to buy, as if they were beautiful little treasures seeping into my dreams. 

This new era has brought tremendous change, much of it unfathomable only five months back. Back then, I joyfully boarded a plane from Philly to Denpasar, completely unaware that our world would implode as a novel virus slammed its way into our lexicon and reality.