What's a weekend?

It used to snow in Utah. I promise. I was there. I remember running outside to recess in full gear, and only having about three minutes to play due to how long the process was getting all those layers and boots on properly. But oh how it was worth it. This weekend on the other hand, it was still Utah, still winter. But in the 50's, and in lieu of snow pants and mittens, we wore sweatshirts and went climbing.

It was Magdalena's first time ever, and my first time in over a year. We climbed next to a group we deduced was made of two couples in the early stages of being couples. And we were reminded just how valuable it is to you and everyone around you to not stress out, get angry, and make a big deal of things that aren't. It was just hard to watch.

We were also reminded what a beautiful valley we are blessed to inhabit.

Friday night we had dinner with some friends. The wife is about four and a half feet tall, round face and exudes cute. She is from an ethnic minority group in China, called the Miao people. Her mother, equally cute, but witness to more life, is living with them here in Salt Lake for 6 months. This woman dresses in bright woven threads from her warm booties to her knotted buttons. She is mother to seven, has lived most her life in a rural village far removed from most anything modern, and is eager to talk to you regardless of the fact that you don't understand anything she is saying.

The minute she saw Magdalena, she opened her arms, exclaimed something quickly and excitedly in a foreign tongue but that all immediately understood as "give me the baby!". We did. And both baby and grandma began one of the more genuine and beautiful human interactions I've seen in quite some time. Both so content. This woman is a mother. I did not get to meet or hear about any of her other children really. But in the way she lit up, the way she sang and sat with Magdalena on her lap, it was clear.

We were served a spicy vegetable stir fry, sausages, and rice. But our cute grandma was used to a far simpler palette; rice and boiled vegetables. So she sat in her wooden chair with Magdalena on her lap and ate a plain bowl of white rice.

Saturday after climbing we had band practice/scheming session on how we are going to make our month long visit to Chengdu work and worth it, at our house. Should all things go according to plan, Magdalena will be getting a passport and I will finally be getting lessons on how to really play the Erhu.

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So Dorius and I don't own a t.v. and don't tend to be very up to date on popular shows, or pop culture at all for that matter. And not to help with the later, but a little with the first, we have begun watching Downton Abbey on the laptop. Thus far, I am very impressed. It is another window into how life has been for some. "What is a weekend?"-- asked by a woman who has known nothing more than day after day of being served, dressed to eat, and resting.

I'm sure to some, my own life is one equally unimaginable and devoid of any "real" struggle. But as Dorius and I sat on our blue couch discussing late last night, every level of success has with it both joy and a yearning for something else, something more. "I wish I had known when you get to the top, there's nothing there." was the honest response of a hugely successful writer upon being asked what he wish he'd known starting out.

It is no revelation that often the very rich or very famous are anything but happy and fufilled. But sometimes its good for the not so rich and not so famous (read:me) to also remember. The things that satisfy or make our lives meaningful aren't always ahead. There is no waiting required. Making  a loaf of bread, planning a youth activity with a group of wonderful individuals, eating with my parents: Success! Achievement! All things that happened yesterday and made my life for that day fulfilling.