by the time i reached the pond, i was exhausted!  there was nothing more i wanted to do than to jump in the pond.  the thought of the cool brisk water plashing on my parched skin, intensified the motivation to strip down to my shorts and dive right in.

before i knew it my body was surrounded by the exhilirating sensations caused by the cool rejuvenating water of the pond.  i was as relaxed as a carcas on the side of the road.  enjoying my time.  taking in every drop of relief that the water brought me.

oh by the way.  did i tell you that i didn't know how to swim at the time?  that's right.  my lessurely soak became a life threatening disaster really fast!  my foot slipped on the muddy bottom and i began drifting into the middle of the pond.  i was drowning!  i can remember that feeling of shock and fear.  i can see the blue skies above the water and some scattered clumps of cotton-like clouds as i was sinking down into what felt like the bottomless abyss.  i wailed my arms and legs frantically but all my efforts were futile.  i continued to drift deeper and deeper.  it's true what they say about facing death...your life does flash before your eyes.  in my case it was a quick flash since i hadn't lived that long yet.

...well, to make a long story short, because of the incident, i've had to live my life with a fear of drowning.  i know how to swim now but it's always in the back of my mind when i am out in water deeper than my body length.  the fear has caused my to pee in my pants many times in the swimming pool.  just kidding....about the peeing.  i only pee in the pool because i am to lazy to get out and go to the bathroom.  like you guys have never done that. uh huh, i suppose no one picks their nose either!

  it has been 25 years since my family left vietnam and made the treacherous journey that would eventually lead us to our new life in the U.S.

my memory of the old home land is somewhat vague but there are blocks of it that are as clear to me as a diamond of the purest quality.  it is a wonder and mystery to me why i can remember certain events and places with such clarity and others seem to be in a shrowd of myst or event at times, nonexistent. 

it is now a quarter past six in the evening.  my time here is winding down...coming to an end.  it is a feeling like no other when you know when you have to leave.  the inescapable fate that we all must fulfill in our lifetime.  for some it's years.  for some it's months. for some it's weeks and yet for some it's days.  for me....it's minutes.  knowing that, i will share with you a memory that i have of an incident that happened to me back in the motherland when i was child no more than knee high to a grasshopper. 

this is one of those memory that i remember clearly, down to the most minute details.  what happened to me that summer forever changed my life.  the trauma left life long effects.  it put a fear in me that i have to deal with on an occassional basis.

i don't remember the year or day but i do remember that it was a hot blistering summer day.  i was at my grandmother's house in the countryside.  i always enjoyed my visits to my grandmother's house.  it was a chance for me to leave the city and come visit my cousins in the country.  it was a chance to climb trees, take honey from bee hives, eat fruits off the trees.  go swimming in the river that flowed past my grandmother's front yard.  every visit was an adventure...especially this particular visit. 

it was sometime after lunch, everyone went to take a nap.  i was not about to waste my precious time napping! sitting under the hot afternoon sun on the front porch, i can feel the beads of sweat making it's way from my forehead down the side of my face and finally like tiny raindrops splattering the parched dirt at my feet, i thought it would be a good idea to go take a little swim to cool down.  it was way too hot to be sitting around waiting for people to finish with their naps. 

there was a pond on my grandmother's property somewhere in the back of the house away from the river.  it seemed like it took forever to get there due to the heat. 

oops...my time is up!  bye

merry christmas!  it has been brought to my attention that i should update my xanga site more often.  i did not realize that people cared besides the "Faithful Four". 

 2005 is just around the corner.  i will make it part of my new years resolution to keep my xanga site updated more frequently. 

from now till the end of the year, i will be on many great adventures and be a part of many heart stopping stuff...yes, stuff.  a great writer is never afraid of using words like "stuff".  i will tell you all about them.

until then...be safe...because i won't.