The organist librarian

Anu took us to the flower market in Bangkok and bought flowers. At the temple of the reclining Buddha he showed us 3 ways of opening the petals of the lotus and folding them back so that the beauty of the pink flower is shown. The lotus is a symbol of the Buddha and enlightenment. The whole exercise was a calming meditation and the flowers were presented to the Buddha.

I have now been round the world 4 times and Liz 3 times. Perhaps the labyrinth I walked in Grace cathedral San Francisco is a good meditation on this journey. So often one seems to be close to the centre but actually there is still a long way to go and then when you reach the centre you have to retrace your steps. Another good meditation was opening the lotus petals and folding them to present to the Buddha. The lotus is a symbol of enlightenment and it gradually opens to display its true beauty. We bought a small ornament of a lotus and brought home the flowers given to us on the boat trip - very beautiful. Why go so many miles? A wonderful retirement holiday of course and so many magnificent places and lovely people. So joyful to see Ann and Paul, Mark and Claire again and visit Gaspar and Rosemary and meet up with Thomas Wilson. And we made a new friend Mark Woodward and organist and piano tuner who we met again at the Sydney airport going on our flight and on to London. And organi...