Darkness within darkness. The gateway to all understanding

It is just about a month until our large group sets forth to China, a month of anticipation, eagerness, anxiety,  peacefulness, and maybe a lot of hot weather. This trip is the culmination of more than a year's worth of planning and careful execution. The idea started as an inkling, that wouldn't it be great if there could be a large excursion of friendly, loving people setting off together in an exciting place, unknown to most of us.

For me, the trip, (China Trek 2011?, The Long March Part 2?) started a lot longer ago. Back when Eric McVadon was defense attache in China, there was another trip across China. In that one, I believe Doug and Michelle travelled for six weeks with the Macs. (I am pretty sure I am getting a lot of this wrong, so feel free to use that little comment box below to correct. Just be gentle!) Erin and I have hundreds of photographs from those days in 1992. But we couldn't go because we were in the midst of adopting Manuel and Alberto. When confronted with the choice (children or China?) we opted for the path taken. Somehow I knew we would get the chance to go to China. When and where would be left to the fates. So when this crazy madcap trip first germinated in Eric's mind, I was pretty sure that my patience had paid off.

So with this blog, I am going to try and capture what I see, what I hear, what I miss, and what I don't know about China as seen through my eyes and those of my fellow travelers. We leave in a month or so, with last minute changes being made probably daily. I still have a hard time remembering who is going, but I am pretty sure I will figure it out July 15. My last trip with this many people was to shepherd 56 8th graders through Central America, so I am glad to have to do less chaperoning and more experiencing.

From our clan, Jim (me), Erin, Eddy, and Alberto are going. This is Eddy's graduation gift from us. Neither Eddy nor Alberto has been to Asia. Erin was in Japan as a little thing, and I lived in Southeast Asia and Japan and have been back once. Everyone is pretty excited and not a little trepidatious - traveling is always a challenge, traveling with family and friends even more so, and going on an exodus with 18 people (I think) is just downright crazy.

I am going to try and add a bit every couple of days or so until we get into the thick of things in Beijing, at which point I will send pictures and posts on a more regular basis. I am not sure who would care to read this, but I will at least use this as a record of what we did (or didn't do). So, stay tuned.

Oh, the quote? From the first chapter of the Tao Te Ching. The complete text is as follows:

The tao that can be told is not the eternal Tao
The name that can be named is not the eternal Name.
The unnamable is the eternally real.
Naming is the origin of all particular things.
Free from desire, you realize the mystery.
Caught in desire, you see only the manifestations.
Yet mystery and manifestations arise from the same source.
This source is called darkness.
Darkness within darkness.
The gateway to all understanding.