Wednesday, February 28, 2018

A Mighty Girl

Mongolia

Naadam Festival

July 2006

This little girl was about six years old. She was tiny in statute but large in confidence. She steps up, drew her bow and that arrow soared through the air. She was a mighty girl.

Tuesday, February 27, 2018

Monday, February 26, 2018

We used to have beautiful azalea bushes in our front yard. They covered the length of the house and they were so fragncant and lovely. Everyone in our neighborhood had an abundance of azalea bushes. However, my grandmother and her sister seemed to think that our neighbors down the street had the most beautiful bushes. As their insistence, we had walk around the neighborhood as they picked the most stunning bushes and we had to take their photo.

Sunday, February 25, 2018

Ironing Her Clothes

Jacmel, Haiti

July 2013

As much as I travel, I am still stunned by so much. This moment, this discovery of a coal burning iron, stopped me in my tracks. I took a photo and everyone around me could not understand why I found this ordinary iron so interesting.

Saturday, February 24, 2018

The Bunn- Shanghai

The Bunn

Shanghai, China

Spring 1994

Although I have been to China several times, I have only been to Shanghai once. That was in 1994. At that time, the Bunn, the major road through the city, accommodated mostly bikes, thousands and thousands of bikes. Cars and buses were few and far between.

Today, bikes are banned from the Bunn. I just can't imagine the congestion at this point. It must be dreadful.

Friday, February 23, 2018

Kid Life

Kid Life, Adult Bills
North East, MD
November 2016

A college student comes in to the coffee shop to buy a beverage. His student loan receipt falls out of his pocket. He picks it up and looks at it and complains out loud: "kid life, adult bills.

Wednesday, February 21, 2018

Spotting Lions

Serengeti National Park

Tanzania

February 2016

The sun hadn't come up yet as we drove in to the Serengeti Park. We hadn't traveled far when the driver stopped and signaled for us to be quiet. We looked around and saw a lion up ahead. She was 20 feet away and to our left. My heart started to pound with excitement. We stood completely still and completely silent. Then, the driver inched up a few feet and we could see the cub just a few feet away. I thought my heart was going to pound right through my chest. We inched closer and closer until we were right beside this magnificent animal. After a few minutes, the two of them got up and meandered away and we collapsed in exhaustion and excitement.

Tuesday, February 20, 2018

He Wants to Knit

He Wants to Learn How To Knit
A Conversation with my mother
Philadelphia, PA
1975

My brother is 15 years younger than me, 11 years younger than his next sibling. So really, he grew up as an only child. He spent a lot of time with my mother. When he was 5, he asked my mother, an avid knitter, to teach him how to knit.

My mother called me, "Brian just asked me to teach him to knit. He wants to learn how to knit." Her tone sounded perplexed.

"So teach him", I responded a bit flippantly.

"Oh, I don't know", she responded sheepishly, "Do you think I should? I don't know? Is that too girly?"

I don't think she ever did. But Brian did teach himself to knit and he knits all the time now. As a matter of fact, our niece recently gave birth to a little boy. We all bought him gifts from Amazon. But Brian knit him a beautiful, beautiful baby blanket.

My mother would have been so proud of Brian.

Monday, February 19, 2018

Wanderlust

WANDERLUST

“I travel because I become uncomfortable being too comfortable.”

Carew Papritz

I have it. It owns most of my thoughts. I could be on the road all the time. I love to go to new places. I am always planning a trip or two in my head.

It started in 1973 when I went to Italy on a school trip. I loved every minute of this trip and it set me on a path of explorations.

In Europe, I love Italy and its specular food. England has the theatre and the pubs that hold my attention. Germany knows how to do beer. And I am off to the Channel Islands soon to see Gerard Durrell's famous zoo.

In South America, I love to explore the last of the hidden tribes along the waterways of the Amazon. I love the feeling of being insignificant in Galapagos. The animals rule in this part of the world. And Terre Fiego is the end of the world.

In Africa, I love to be on safari. I can’t see enough elephants, rhinos, hippos, birds, giraffes, zebras and lions in my lifetime. Now, the monkeys and the baboons, that is a different story. Those damn animals steal my food and belongs. I have had enough of them. But I am going to make a trip to see the silverback gorillas.

In Antatrica, the magnitude of the ice humbles me. And, of course, I fall in love with every damn, smelly penguin that waddles passed me.

In Asia, I love to go to Buddhist temples and tea houses and vegetable markets. I love the noodles and the tofu. I love the massages.

In Australia, I love the Aborigines and Uluru Rock and the Great Barrier Reef.

In North America, I love to visit the warm Caribbean and the expansive Canada. And of course, there are a million things I love about the USA.

Sunday, February 18, 2018

Kevin and Emily's Wedding

KEVIN AND EMILY’S WEDDING

September 9, 2017

I have 16 nieces and nephews and Kevin was my first one. And today he got married and we were all so damn happy. He married Emily, a Shakespearean coach. They will live near NYC where they will go to operas and theatre and great restaurants. They will wander off to some mountain on the weekend and hike through the woods. They love to hike. They will bring out the best in each other and we will grow more and more in live with Emily every time we see her because she makes Kevin so damn happy.