the path to my house

good morning!
the weather here right now is autumn in the morning and summer in the rest of the day. so bizarre.
Anyhow, i'm taking some more pictures and stuff so they should be coming up shortly.... a new video on youtube, hopefully, cross our fingers.
I want tell you about the path from my house to the market.
It is a concrete path that goes down the hill between the houses to the main market street. There is a creek that runs down beside and under it from out of the mountains, that people constantly divert according to their needs and whose rice patty field needs to be irrigated the most. Everyday, almost, i see new and creative ways and routes that the creek has been diverted by human hands, and the next day it is different all again. It is fascinating to see these small things change everyday. Something as simple as water and how it is used. This little creek, contained in its little concrete gutter, serves so many people on its way from up the mountain to the Ganga.
But this is not the thing i wanted to tell you.
Its about the path itself.
It is one of my very favourite things here. Let me tell you why....
This path has many holes in it, under which the creek is running. The holes vary in size from the size of your fist to the size of two milk crates, large enough for a pig to fall in. There are grates occuring periodically in the path and some of them are partially or entirely missing, due, probably, to people wanting to drop a bucket in the creek running underneath to retreive some water, so they've removed a grate and god knows where it is now. No one repairs the path. Everyone knows where the holes are... it's not a problem.
The path itself is only about 3 feet wide and bikes and mopeds also travel it regularily without incident, holes and all. (although last night, one was coasting down with the engine cut (they often do this... coast down hills), stealthily silent so i didn't hear it coming and i yelped and leapt out of the way when we almost collided, both of us yelling "sorry!" back at eachother in english. I remain unharmed and smiling. )
I noticed last week that someone had put a rock half in the hole that is the perfect size of your foot. He must have stepped in it thus precipicating the stop-gap measure. I smiled when i saw that because that's what i thought... a perfectly foot sized hole.
Anyway...the beauty of this path is... that a large section of it, where the concrete walls are high on both sides, is completely unlit at night when the moon is not out or less than a quarter big. Almost completely and totally in blackness for about 20 feet. So, to walk on this path at night requires nothing less than a photographic memory of the precise location of each and every hole. I have made the trip when there is no moon maybe 5 times now. It is the short cut from the market to my house. To not take this path requires a very very long detour around by road. Everytime i find myself on this path on the darkest section at night i laugh so hard because I actually have the knowledge, the memory in my mind, the map, of all the holes, and i can navigate it with little difficulty. Granted, last night was the darkest of all nights i have ever been on that path and i was going very slow and tapping the ground in front of each step, just to make sure. But i realized with wonder, that i have travelled this path so many times in the last month and a half, that i can make the trip at night, just like the people who live here everyday and live with this holey path, that in canada, would be condemned as a hazardous route and sectioned off until it was repaired to an acceptable standard.
I don't know why i delight in these things. Most travellers would be exasperated. I just find it one more quirky and endearing thing that i love about this place. I will post a picture of it. i took a picture today.
So this path is one of my favourite things, and i smile every time i find myself picking my way along there after dark.