a tiny lake full of its own biota.here was a frog in there and wiggling mosquito larvae and snails and a beetle. and someone had laid their eggs in there, mayba salamander or some water loving insect. cataloged 500 species that can live just in the rainwater collected in a brazilian's bowl. it's a tiny all of its own own. and then i reached the top, the rope, and i looked down and below me i saw parakeets and butterfliesluwater was still as, night. i could see no dolphins. so was climb a failure? far from it. i didn't see what expected or hoped to see. i didn't get just a view of something. i already. instead, i'd been given a glimpse. a treetop world that few of us in the u.s., this. i was given a far more exciting and profound view and unexpected insight, a surprise gift. and that's a pretty good working definition of a blessing. and so many times in my life found myself in. a similar situation. in india, i was researching my second book called spell of the ■ztiger, and i traveled to some urban, which is this huge ma