Salmagundi On The Side

Day 5 on the road - Malaybalay, Bukidnon, in a cool restaurant/bar with a net cafe (thank you Lord!), three places where I really need to be right now. I have an interesting salmagundi of reflections and realizations, most of which are safely tucked away for posterity in my little journal/reporter's notepad, for further elaboration when I reach this journey's end (or should I say "if"?).

I'm reading a very interesting book by Peter Matthiessen: The Snow Leopard, which is supposed to be some kind of a travel classic (non-fiction; one of my favorite genres). Brilliant writing about his trek to the Himalayas and his realizations as a Zen Buddhist - prose that is so vivid and graphically evocative that I often have to put the book aside and "gnaw" on certain passages. More on that next time; I actually started writing notes in the book itself - first time I've ever done that when reading for pleasure.

God's been particularly good to me today in "cinematic" terms - we finally made our way out of busy Cagayan de Oro into the beautiful scenery of Bukidnon. As I texted Jinggay (we're staying with her lovely family) earlier, I'd forgotten how beautiful everything here is. We spent barely half an hour the new Monastery of the Transfiguration; would have loved to stay for vespers, for an hour, a day, a lifetime - AG and I agreed that it's the kind of place where you can just sit and contemplate the Creator of all these glorious creations that serve only to point to Him.

Tomorrow should prove to be a day that brings more beautiful blessings. This is one place where "long" hours can never be a bore.