Youth

The steady rain this morning has turned into a steady afternoon rain, and so here I am stuck at Starbucks in Renon. Nonetheless, I've had a lovely time here visiting with Hendra and his pals along with his girlfriend and hers. It's a great way to become more comfortable with conversational language, and it's also a pleasure to enter into this world of youth--their energy, their sense of humor, their tender hopes and dreams. One remembers with greater immediacy the freshness, the old enthusiasms left behind, and a youthfulness springs to life again in one's own heart--and ease of laughter and humor and chatter. And when the rain stops, the sky seems brighter than ever.