Kingfisher, the King of Beers and Airlines...

In the past three weeks, I have flown on too many prop airplanes into too many Himalayan valleys to truly be comfortable... I was told the pilots were among an elite group of pilots specially trained to land small aircraft along too-short runways while battling unpredictable and ever-fluctuating environmental conditions. This is "half-full/half-empty" information...while some might hear "there's a damn fine pilot flying this plane," others might hear "if your 'elite' pilot has a bad day, your screwed." And the airline running these "once-a-day" flights? Kingfisher...the same company that brews and bottles India's premier beer, also Kingfisher. Did I mention they were prop planes?

A few weeks back I assisted an ongoing investigation into the disappearance of a missing American in the famed "Valley of Shadows"...Parvati Valley, in the state of Himachal Pradesh. The valley was pristine, the air was clean...the area could very easily be mistaken for any other mountainous region in the world. It was beautiful...and apparently very dangerous. The route the missing American trekked (supposedly) was treacherous at best... I had never pushed myself as hard as I did hiking those foothills...nine hours of trekking, two and a half of that uphill and the last two hours downhill. After all of the uphill, you might think the downhill was sweet relief...and you'd be wrong. Unfortunately the missing American has yet to be located...

Shortly after returning from the valley, I pushed off for a couple of days training in Bangkok... While I was tired of being away from home, it was two solid days of Burger King and Starbucks...seriously, every meal, Burger King...and Starbucks. It was nice being in the "First World" again, but difficult to truly enjoy without Julie and the kids. One can only see so many Buddhas solo before finally wandering back to a lonely hotel room to watch HBO (B-movies of the 90's are the forte of programmers in Southeast Asia).

After Bangkok, I was back in Delhi for a whole week before again flying north to Himachal Pradesh on assignment. Kingfisher, the King of Beers...err, Airlines. I flew into Kangra Valley this time... (An aside: A couple of years back Olivia asked what it was that I did...I tried to explain in terms that she might understand, so I said "Daddy takes old people to meet with other old people so that they can talk about old people stuff." To this day, Olivia still asks before I leave on a trip..."Daddy, are you going to take an old person to meet with another old person so that they can talk about old person stuff?") Well...before Kangra Valley she asked me that same question and I answered "Yes." I traveled to Kangra Valley to help some people look after some other people so that those people could meet with an old and very wise and very frickin' cool person...it was all-in-all very awesome.

Throughout all of this travel, Julie, my incredible wife, was holding down the Turner Family Fort in Delhi...she was ushering Olivia and Eli to and from school, Olivia to and from ballet, Eli and Olivia to and from play-dates and was carrying Alise most of the time. I cannot thank Julie enough for her support and patience...this next week however I will return the favor. Julie will travel to Seoul for work and we will join her....the kids will see the land from which their mother was wrought and I will be their tour guide. I will be Mr. Mom and I can't wait...late mornings (0830 hours or later, fingers crossed), hotel pool, Lotte World, the zoo, Starbucks, Dunkin' Donuts...and you know what, I'm pretty sure we can get hamburgers in Seoul. It's going to be pretty sweet... Even better, actual travel lanes...drivers will stay in their lanes. Oh, and trash receptacles, that people use to throw trash in...and the complete and total absence of public urination. And, again...hamburgers.

All is well here in New Delhi...the kids are enjoying school, making friends...Olivia was recently complimented by Fernando himself, the owner of Fernando Ballet Company...Olivia has "mad skillz." Eli is learning how to swim and has his alphabet down-pat. Alise has four teeth now, she giggles uncontrollably at the slightest provocation and babbles incessantly...it's all so beautiful. Julie is training for the New Delhi Half-Marathon, baking legendary cakes and breakfast dishes, mothering and working...so yes, if you're wondering, she's still incredible and makes far too many things look much too easy.

If you're looking for gift ideas for The Turners...Mr. Clean Magic Erasers...seriously.

Delhi...OUT!!!