Hi Reader,
Jambo!
Jon and I are 2 weeks into a 3-week camping/4x4 trip into the less-visited corners of Kenya. Internet is scarce, so I'm taking advantage tonight to write a few words.
This sort of trip really focuses my attention on the small details. The feel of the evening wind, the morning light and the call of the ringed-neck doves and the hadada ibis. The roads are alternatively newly paved and smooth, taking us through magnificent agricultural lands of rolling hills, or dusty, rocky bone-jarring tracks connecting escarpments with valleys of dry scrub. When we stop for lunch by the road we always have goat herders or students stop to chat and merely stare. We all seek shade from the Equatorial sun, a friendly smile. A wave. A short conversation about school and hopes to become a useful contributor to society. We have found the Kenyans to be open and warm.
Welcome to the world of human-ness. And the ways in which we are all the same, all wanting and needing the same things to make a good life. Friendly shop keepers who walk a half kilometer with us to try and find some obscure electronic part we need for the car. High school students so eager to practise their English and talk about their hopes for more studies and jobs someday. Campground owners who crave input from visitors on ways to to make their services more findable on the internet. And the wildlife specialist woman who was thrilled to meet folks like us who arrive with no expectations and are therefore thrilled with each wildlife encounter.
Expectations. What deceptive energy-killers those are. Kenya has reminded me again to lessen my expectations and be grateful for what we find.
In my writing life I have struggled with expectations: hoping to sell many more books than I have. Hoping to get more reviews. More accolades. But the bottom line is, I need to be happy with what I've accomplished. And I am. And I am grateful to the support of all my readers and my community of writers.
If you haven't had a chance to read Heels to Hiking Boots,the Kindle version is on sale this month for 99 cents. Tell a friend! Pass along the fun. As always, candid but kind reviews are more than welcomed and help others find the book.
From the eastern slopes of Mt. Kenya
Sue
