It's Lili's first day at work. She sees David in the kitchen at the urban farm and says "uh oh". David sees Lili in the kitchen and says "oh my". An explosion of golden light appears between us. We are blinking, dazed. We are avoiding each other now. Well, kind of. Well, actually, Lili is avoiding David and David is not avoiding Lili but rather taking every opportunity he gets to be within Lili's aura. The problem is, he's too nervous to ask this goddess on a date so he sends an email instead. The subject line: "a non work related question." That will have to do, he thought. And do it did. Now it's April 20, we get into Lili's car to drive up to the old volcano which teems with poppies and lupines and clarkias, where we talk for 9 hours, fully lost in each other, contemplating the moon, our mothers, sharing certain textures of our inner world. And never have we looked back. In fact, we are still in that proverbial car, headed to some uncertain destination we're only kind of concerned about but mostly just content to be at each other's side, sneaking kisses in the garden, giggling, listening to Fleetwood Mac, running with the dog on the beach, and loving the days away in the great hum of life.

We are in San Cristobal de las Casas in the Mexican state of Chiapas. The confluence of the Central American Volcanic Arc (part of the American Cordillera, our collective hemispheric spine) and the Lacandon Jungle. We bought "travel" rings back in Bacalar but David lost them goddess knows where. No matter. We find a new pair, made by an Italian expat hawking her wares on the street. We like her energy as we squat by the blanket where her jewelry is laid out. We're giddy, David isn't going to tell Lili when he's gonna do it. In our giddiness, we let our guard down and eat a salad. Wrong move. A week of food poisoning. Lili thinks David is dying at one point, on the phone with her Mom, Cathy, an inveterate nurse back in Pasadena. At least we are together in a gorgeous place? Right?? By the end of this, shall we call it an ordeal? we are empty vessels, finally prepared for the sacred task of committing to one another. We abscond to a waterfall in the jungle. An old woman approaches us as we ascend the cascades. ¿Saben comó se llama esta cascada? Do you know what this waterfall is named? She asks with a furtive grin and sparkle in her eye. ¡El velo de la novia! The bride's veil! Lili looks at me, her suspicions confirmed. David claims he had no clue! At the top, beneath what must have been a 200 foot dead drop of gushing water set within the jungle mountain, we are feeling a bit sheepish. But we love sheep. David is fishing the ring from an ibuprofen bottle he had stashed it in, gets down on his knee and asks Lili if she will marry him. She giggles an emphatic yes! and immediately pulls him back to his feet. We are soaked by now, laughing and smiling uncontrollably, smooching, flowers falling from the trees. We do a mikveh (Jewish ritual of immersion in water) in a sapphire pool and buy ice cream sandwiches at the tienda.