On my South America trip I got sick in Peru…and a really wonderful couple took me in. Alternative sorts of folks, he was a shaman as well as an herbologist and she was an artist. They were building a compound where they could live off the grid for when the end of the world came and be completely self sufficient. In the short week I was with them and recuperating, I came to care deeply for them. I think of them from time to time, but never more so than these past few days as 12-21-12 approaches. We had said an emotional good-bye, and as I rode out of their gate they invited me–and everyone I care about– to come and be with them in their compound for this ‘end of the world.’ I’ve never forgotten their generosity to a complete stranger.

So here I am at my Mother’s house in North Carolina. I figure it’s a fitting place to be if the world does end…back to the beginning and the one who gave me life in the first place. And if the world does not end, I’ll take it as a sign to be an even better daughter and friend, and to be even kinder to strangers.

Here’s a link to my original post from that trip, including pictures: https://www.motoadventuregal.com/2010/04/hipocampo/