Perspective

I step out of the lodge into a cold, moonless night and walk to the water’s edge.

A single bulb outside the lodge winks out and I walk with care on an unpaved trail, feeling the darkness take shape around me. The highland air is thin and, surely, I must be the first that disturbs its stillness.

Darkness fades by degrees as I approach the water’s edge and I wonder at the soft light fraying the deep night. Starlight. Night sky so clear that I can see the milky sweep of distant galaxies between countless stars. I gaze above, committing to memory the majesty of a night sky unfettered by urban glare, and when I look down, incredibly, the sky continues below the horizon. I stand within a starry orb suspended between the sky and its faithful reflection on vast, tranquil waters.

Minutes pass or maybe an eternity; an approaching light dispels my vision and brings me back to the water’s edge. A boat arrives to collect passengers on their way to set up market at the break of dawn.

I climb aboard and sit next to the heavy loads of drowsy passengers on their daily commute.

**

What is mundane to locals seems magical to the traveler. The outsider’s perspective is only one of the many gifts of traveling. The scene I describe above is from an unforgettable boat ride from more than a decade ago.