in a little village in turkey

we drive high into the mountains, stop at a spring and drink the coldest water you can imagine. the window stays open at the apartment and the wind brings in with it the scent of the large tree that grows just beyond the balcony. the smell is stuck in my nose, stuck in my memory, and i know i've never smelled it before.she shows me her photo album on the couch. we walk down empty cobbled roads as the sun goes down, arm in arm. he wears a baseball cap with an alligator on the front. we see trees that are hundreds of years old, trees that have stories all their own. everyone points to things they see and tell us something new. there are cherries growing right over the street. we drink tea and play backgammon (tavla in turkish). but we don't need language, we use smiles and holding hands.i'll never forget this day spent visiting family in turkey.in july we were able to visit some of my extended family in the south-west of turkey which was an incredible and overwhelming experience. i hadn't seen them since i was a teenager, and dave had never met them. i'll never forget this day and these photos that (mostly) dave took for us just take me right back to how it felt to be there. it was here i was taught again to just be a part of the experience and live it, and to realize again how precious even just a few photos can be. and i know that the next time i catch scent of a linden tree i'll be transported back to this day in bozdag and to the family i have on the other side of the world.july 2013 // bozdag, turkey