Easter Sunday morning thoughts

This morning as the sun shines through the leaves surrounding the yard, light playfully laughing on the leaves, dancing in the slightest of breeze from tree to tree, I sit here on the step outside my room, a cup of coffee in hand. Sounds surrounding me like a blanket on a cold morning though it is not cold at all, a multitude of bird songs, a child's squeal of delight, voices of the Indian UN workers, cars honking in the distant, the crunch of leaves under foot as the security guard passes by. I hear the normal rythem of the dogs barking, a occasional rooster's crow and music of my ipod softly playing in the background.The air was washed clean after last night brief rain shower, the ground covered in the litter of the trees from the wind, I can smell the sweet scent of the gardenia-flowering tree floating like a butterfly. I suddenly wonder if by writing these words, I will recall the memory of this morning. I have a memory from childhood of going to a movie with my dad and my brothers- it was the drive in theater and in my memory it was a Disney movie about a horse with the flying tail. In my memory, the next morning was Easter. But now as an adult and I recall this memory, I think it is distorted- It couldn't be Easter time as I don't believe the movie theater opened until sometime in May. No matter, it is a memory that recalls a feeling of a warm spring day and happiness and brings comfort. I hope the peaceful feeling of sitting here this morning can be recalled in the same way. While there is a little feeling of melancholy sitting beside me as host for other feelings that wash over me from time to time, this morning is lovely. Will it be intermingled with the memories of the other 160 or so other mornings I will have spent in this country? I write so I don't forget, so they can remain distinct memories and infuse the intense feelings of the moment back into my being. Haiti is not a place easily forgotten by those visiting and forges its way into ones heart. Its many layers constantly revealing itself the longer I am here yet it is still unknown like the secret ingredients of the hougans' magic spells. Will I be able to uncover them before I leave or am I only revealing my own layers that allow me to accept what is or isn't. The thought lingers in the air....will these memories last a lifetime or skitter across time like the lizards across the cement. A lifetime I should imagine.