… well, at the end of the week.

I have been a bit quiet these last few days; real life is uncharacteristically busy. Among other things, I am getting ready for my second overseas trip in just over a year. No, I won’t tell you precisely where, or I won’t be able to do one of those “where in the world is…” posts. But… see… it used to rain when we went camping. Every time. We would show up at a national park during a drought, and there would be flash flood warnings that night.

Then my parents started traveling for real. And wherever they went, within a few months there was major unrest. I won’t name names, but I blame the fall of the Soviet Union, the chaos in the Middle East, and even global warming, on my parents’ travels.

And this trip is with them.

I’m heading to an area that struggles with malaria—
Today was spent in frantic preparation for that fact;
With bug repellant for my skin; my first week’s dose of mefloquine;
Permethrin sprayed on clothing, and I still could be attacked.

In truth, I’m really not concerned with flying insects; I have learned,
No matter if they bite or sting, I face a greater threat.
Nor predatory carnivore—one entity disturbs me more:
It’s humans that are scarier than anything I’ve met.

And not just any people—see, I’m traveling with my family,
And frankly, there’s a history that really gets me scared!
See, everywhere my parents travel, governments will soon unravel—
Doubt me at your peril, and it’s best to be prepared!

(The correlation’s spurious, and yet I still am curious,
And someday I may calculate and figure out the odds;
There’s some small probability, despite their false humility,
My parents may, statistically, be War and Chaos gods.)

So, anyway, this may be my last chance to say “buy my book”, or “note the tip jar”, or “don’t bother praying for me, but if you have any decent advice, I am all ears”… especially that last one.

Don’t know how much time I will have this week, and I doubt I will have any time at all next week (or internet, or sanity), but I plan on being back, with as many photos as I can cram onto as many SD memory deallies as I can afford.

It really ought to be a wonderful time, with only a slight but statistically significant chance that the world itself will end.