Day 44, Sept. 23

There was more to come as far as joyriding was concerned. This time in Kerala was to be more concerned with resting. On that note Fr. Dickson gave me some choices as to how to spend the day. That part was easy. The mountains are my joy. He expanded his choices with the result of confusing me. Then, we could also do more than one thing. I had no idea how to respond to his putting the success of the day on my uninformed choices. So, I chose the mountains alone. I chose correctly. It turned out to be a glorious day despite some spots of bad weather.
We went to the Ghats. Without knowing it for sure, I had chosen o go into the mountains I had seen from a distance twice. They were enchanting. Although they are considered a range, each mountain stands unique. Climbing .them is no different than driving up the Smokies except there are a lot more cutbacks. You gain altitude much faster. The views are more stark although they are very green. Both coffee and tea grow there as well as various palms and hardwoods. Getting out and hiking was thrilling sine we were playing hide and seek with clouds. When the clouds opened, a completely new vista appeared. Of course, there were streams, falls, and whitewater. It was a flashback to home in Tennessee.
We returned to the parish an dinner with the sisters. They leaned my liking for cold Coca-Cola and served it at dinner. I looked forward to something cold. Nowhere else in India had anything cold.
Tonight we surprised ourselves. We played Scrabble. The game was fun, fast and competitive. We ended at 11:30 a more bonded group.