Two

 

Starting with two different interpretations of a childhood favourite of mine, a golden oldie.

Let the blow fall soon or late,
Let what will be o'er me;
Give the face of earth around,
And the road before me.
Wealth I ask not, hope nor love,
Nor a friend to know me;
All I ask, the heaven above
And the road below me.

~ R.L. Stevenson, excerpt from The Vagabond. 

My mother, who departed this world four years ago this April, used to recite this to me as a child. She was the one who gave me two different interpretations - treated me in the most age-inappropriate manner by today's standards. 

One, she said, was the simple meaning, a guy who didn't like being indoors and liked to travel, stating his preferences in no uncertain terms. The second, she told me, was a faith based explanation - heaven above signifying God's guidance and grace, the road below being the life in this world that's allotted to each individual. 'All I ask is God's guidance to do the work, the karma, travel the road given to me with faith and focus.' Very much an echo of the message of the Bhagavad Gita. Ma was a person of deep faith. 

I miss her, miss her random poetry recitals - she had perfect recall of a whole swathe of poems - miss the discussions and interpretations, the points of disagreements even, quite heated sometimes. 

She's always in my thoughts, more so in April. 

Ma in the 60s. 

Also remembering and honouring other family members who have passed in April - long ago and last year. 

Here are today's photos - T is for travel...I'm totally in agreement with Robert's core message above. Trying to travel the road given as mindfully as I can. 

For the longest time, travel meant sailing over water. Mamanuca, Fiji.

And over land by foot or on animal back. Dahshour, Egypt.

Horses, mules, donkeys, oxen, camel and other pack animals are still used
for transport in many parts of the world. Suez, Egypt.

Trains drawn by steam locomotives happened in 1800s.
Bath Railway Station, UK

Planes and cars came in much later, only about a 100
years ago. London, UK. 

Initially, travel was either trade related or religious
journeys/pilgrimages. St Catherine, Egypt.. 

Leisure travel or modern tourism, became a thing in the late 17th century.
Noblemen's sons would do a tour of Germany, France, Greece and Italy to
experience history and culture. Paris, France.

Today the global tourism industry contributes a hefty 10% to the world GDP.
Venice, Italy.  

Many economies around the world depend on tourism. It creates jobs and
promotes better understanding amongst different peoples. Aegina, Greece.

However, travel  and tourism industry has its challenges as well. Over-tourism
has led some cities to impose restrictions on the number of tourists. There's the
environmental impact and carbon emissions and a whole host of factors
that have to be managed for sustainable tourism.  Amboseli, Kenya.

So a tribute and travel that's for T. Also for trouble, which is what my eyes are giving me still. Not much hope of increasing any screen time or read-n-write time.. I'm still toing and froing and running in circles around eye doctors, still navigating the logistics of a tsunami of eye drops. I'm super tired of it all. 

Hope you've enjoyed the photos. Happy A-Zing! - if you're participating. And happy cusp season to you, if you're not! 

Posted for the A-Z Challenge 2024

Response

 

R is for Response...which is what the A-Z is all about, responding to a prompt for each workday in April - the letter for the day. I'm not on the right day for these letters, Sunday is supposed to be a day of rest, but I shall persevere, nonetheless. 

On the road to Segovia, Spain.

Washington DC.

R is for rain as well. And for Raleigh, NC.

Onto each route some rain must fall. Uttar Pradesh, India .

Rain drenched road to the Basilica of Bom Jesus, Goa. 

Rainfall is rare on this route! Offroad in the White Desert, Egypt.

Getting offroad here is a risk no one wants to take!
Himalayan roads in North Bengal.

Moving on to S...and sticking to roads and routes in general. 

S is for stopping by the roadside to admire the sea and sky in Fiji.
Must have time to stand and stare!

Still on the road, somewhere in Bath, UK, loving the super late summer sunset

Scenic! - on the way to Hawiyat Najm sinkhole then on to the
turtle sanctuary, Oman. 

Smoother than expected - unsurfaced road out of Amboseli, Kenya.

Tree lined road to Amlapura, Bali. Shadows to die for!

Village street in the ruins of Gadara/Umm Qais, Jordan.
That's the same Gadara as in 'Gadarene swine' in the Bible.
Ruins date back to third century BC - seriously ancient.

So that's my R and S struck off the list in one fell swoop. Hope you've enjoyed the photos. Happy A-Zing! - if you're participating. And happy cusp season to you, if you're not! 

Posted for the A-Z Challenge 2024

Quagmire

 

Yeah, that's what Q is for...a horrible Quagmire...but...my visit to NC last year end has helped to extricate me in the niftiest manner. 

A quilt of historical importance. This was an exhibit 
in a gallery on the history of protests. So powerful!

The label. North Carolina Museum of History, Raleigh, US.

At the NC Museum of History, Raleigh. Imagine!
- the quiet elation.

More quilts. I could have based the entire challenge on this gallery.

Close up of the label. Wondering if every state history museum has an
A-Z of (state name) section?

The entire section was peppered with Questions like this. 

And did you know that Charlotte, NC is named after Queen Sophia Charlotte, the queen of King George III, on the throne when the Revolutionary War was fought and US independence was gained from the British? Yeah, me neither. 

So that's the quagmire...turned into a piece of cake. By a gallery in a museum - you never know what treasures a visit might yield. Hope you've enjoyed the photos. Happy A-Zing! - if you're participating. And happy cusp season to you, if you're not! 

Posted for the A-Z Challenge 2024

Portrayal

 

P is for Photographs, of course. And P is for Potamophilia. Potamowhut?? Poh-tuh-moh-fil-ya. A love of rivers and all things riverine. That's turning out to be the theme for these posts, loosely...come back periodically to the rivers and the ghats and flowing waters generally. 

The Aire at Leeds, UK.

Thames at London, UK. 

Guadalquivir at Seville, Spain

Hudson at NYC, US

Potomac at Washington DC, US.

Purple People's Bridge on the Ohio, Cincinnati, OH, US.

Hooghly at Bandel, W Bengal, India complete with pointy boats,
a popular local mode of river transport.

Nile at Cairo, Egypt. 

Rangeet river at Baiguney, North Bengal, India.

 Gomti at Lucknow, India.

Ba, Fiji.

View of Ganges from BrijRama Palace Hotel, Varanasi, India.

Niagara, USA.

Ichhamati at Taki, border area between the two Bengals -
West Bengal in India and Bangladesh.

That's P for Photos portraying Potamophilia.  Hope you've enjoyed them. Happy A-Zing! - if you're participating. And happy cusp season to you, if you're not! 

Posted for the A-Z Challenge 2024

Outdoors

 

O is for Outdoors, where each one of these was shot...

Owl sculpture in Bath, UK.

The label. Many of these sculptures were dotted around the streets, done 

by different artists with different interpretations 

Oil tanker in open waters. Nadi, Fiji.

On the road. Upstate NY, USA.

Walking by the Ocean. Natadola, Fiji.

One of the most famous prehistoric monuments. Wiltshire, UK.

The old and the brand new. View from Karbabad Fort, Bahrain.

Plenty of Os in that picture! Bridge on Guadalquivir, Seville, Spain.

Oak leaves. Carmel, IN, USA.

On the way to Ras al Jinz turtle sanctuary, Oman. The sanctuary is
directly opposite Jamnagar in India. 

That's O for outdoors.  Hope you've enjoyed the photos. Happy A-Zing! - if you're participating. And happy cusp season to you, if you're not! 

Posted for the A-Z Challenge 2024