Bali with a Belly

We went to Bali.

It is an extraordinary place.

a rice paddy we hiked down into. I wish the time of day allowed me to capture the green better.....

Ganesha at one of 3 stunning temples we visited. The more overgrown or worn away they were the more I loved them.

The market in Ubud. I would have loved several days here. Next trip.

One of many monkeys in the monkey forest. The Balinese let the monkeys take over on the grounds where a temple to Hanuman, the monkey god, was built. I was especially partial to the mama monkeys running around with baby monkeys clinging to their bellies. No Ergos needed.

I've never seen more, or more perfect, lotus blossoms.

Walking at the temple at Uluwatu. It sits on a cliff 210 feet above the Indian Ocean.

Another temple. I seem to like them. We actually saw monks bathing at this one. Nothing racy, don't worry. I still need to look up who that goddess is.

The baby loved it, even if we both did get a little hot at times and had to leave certain parties early.

Mom and Dad loved it too. And the wedding we attended was spectacular.

I confess I got a little emotional on the morning that we left. I know we'll go on a week-long vacation together again. And hey, I'll even be able to drink cocktails on that one. There's nothing Sky and I want more than this baby, and there's a little mourning going on that Us as we know Us is changing forever. I think that's normal. I remember a couple months before we got married I spent a good part of the day on the beach weeping. I wasn't sad about getting married; quite the opposite. But subconsciously or archetypally or something I was letting go of me as I'd known me my whole life and starting a completely new era. This was something like that. I didn't weep, but there were a few tears; there will probably be more. I think taking the time, accidentally or on purpose, to grieve the loss of one thing as I make way for the next is a way of honoring how beautiful the time that's going into the past has been. Doesn't mean there's anything wrong or it's not a change I don't want. Just that it's that: change. A kind of huge one.