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| We could only imagine how beautiful our photos would have been on a sunny day, which had started bright and clear, turning to rain shortly after we left. We still had a fabulous day! That’s life in the tropics. |
Today’s photos are from the post on this date in 2015 while living in Savusavu, Vanua Levu, Fiji. For more from this date, please click here.
Today’s heading above, “Living large, living small, living in the moment” from this date in 2015, prompted me to use it once again, five years later. Could it ever be more appropriate than now?
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| Our then home in Savusavu was located approximately 1/3 of the way in from the point in this photo. |
In that post, so long ago, I wrote:
In this meaningful life, in the big world, each day, we strive to live “small,” wrapped up in the trivialities of our every day. We appreciate the call of a mating bird, a determined crowing rooster, an annoyed mooing cow, or the stuttered baa we often hear from a lonely kid goat.
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| The point, close to the home in Savusavu, from across the bay. |
We watch the cruise ships, large and small, waft by each day in our magnificent ocean view. Often at night, with their lights bright, we easily imagine the festivities and lively banter occurring on deck, knowing in a little over two months, we’ll be doing the same.
When we think of the future, it’s hard not to speculate, anticipate, and become outrageously excited, knowing full well what lies ahead of us. Even after we’ve visited each continent, there will be so much left to see: the Northern Lights from Norway, a Baltic cruise, the Black Sea, more river cruises, the USA and Canada, and countries throughout the world we’ll have yet to see.”
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| We passed several small villages while sightseeing. |
And now, while here during this ongoing lockdown in Mumbai, India, certainly not as scenic and culturally interesting as Fiji, and yet, there still are moments we find ourselves stopping to treasure a small thing; a bird alighting on our window sill and singing a song; the fireworks on the eve of a Hindu holiday celebration; the kindness of a staff member; and often, the caring and thoughtful messages from our readers from all over the world.
As for “living large,” this is not that time. If any of us stopped relishing “living in the moment,” life would have little meaning. Perhaps in years to come (if we are so blessed), telling this peculiar story to strangers on a cruise ship, or that we meet somewhere along the way, will find us feeling grateful for this life experience and how it may have changed or enriched us in one way or another.
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| Cows are always curious, and we laughed when this grazing cow picked up her head to check us out. |
Every day, I stop my mind from spinning to appreciate that as hard as this may be, I am alive; where had I not had emergency open-heart surgery 20 months ago, I may not be here today to tell this story. If, at the time, I was offered a choice of life, living in a hotel room for a year with my love and companion Tom or, death, most certainly, I’d have chosen the hotel room. There is much to be grateful for.
So, perhaps, this time is all about “living small,” knowing that tonight, after eating dinner on our laps, we’ll watch three more episodes of The Walking Dead (we’re now wrapping up season five). Last night, we laughed out loud, saying how grateful we are to be stuck in this room and not fighting zombies due to that type of pandemic.
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| It was raining when we stopped to take photos of these fish ponds. |
A cup of coffee or tea, a meal prepared exactly as expected, a hearty chuckle from a podcast, or the glint in our eyes when we look at one another, knowing full well, someday, this small existence will change and once again we’ll have the opportunity to “live largely.”
Stay healthy, dear readers, as we all look forward to the future while we continue to strive to “live in the moment.”
Photo from one year ago today, October 28, 2019:
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| The digital 3D presentation on our table and plates at Qsine Restaurant aboard the ship. What a delightful experience. The tabletop is a plain white blank canvas, making such colorful presentations possible. For more photos, please click here. |