Lugnasa Hiroshima Moon
After Lake Minnetonka, with a wonderful orange full moon, its size magnified by its nearness to the horizon, the full Hiroshima Moon, rising, I headed over to the airport to pick up my brother, Mark, arriving on a somewhat delayed flight from Chicago.
Mark was full of stories of Saudi students, bad driving, camel–well, let’s just say breeding, walks in the market with a friend, the only two white men there. Saudi Arabia is a country still grappling with modernity, the Sauds only in charge of all of Saudi Arabia since 1927. The desert is not far out of their daily experience.
Mercurial is the word Mark uses to describe the Saudi’s he had as students, alternately affectionate and interested, then disdainful and slothful. Sounds like certain American high schools I know.
He brought me a handcrafted pair of sandals, “A small guy in a caftan, squats on the floor all day and makes these sandals by hand.” and Kate an incense burner used in an Arab hospitality ritual. Very nice gifts, carrying the feel of the Peninsula.
While he is here, he wants to get a bank account, another shot at his driver’s license and a new passport.
A guy in a much better place even than when he left last August. Good to see.
