The Handprint Left Behind
IT WAS THE WINTER of 2015, and I was in the Langtang region of Nepal.
“Big Sister?”
The old woman of the house was nudging my elbow to get my attention.
“Yes, Mother?”
“We have a cave just over our village where monks do retreats.”
That’s true of many villages. Caves dot the landscape of the Himalayas.
“You must be proud,” I replied. “Is it far?”
“Not so much,” was her evasive answer. In Himalayan terms, that could mean anything from a few minutes’ walk to a few days. Since I had students with me, there wasn’t much opportunity for a side
