Being Grateful

It is raining here in Skane, and the winds are not kind. On the news they show Haiti and Florida with strong winds and disaster in its steps.

With all wars and other terrors you can easily lose faith in the human race as well. I am very grateful to live in a peaceful part of the world. Grateful every day. My heart goes out to all in war and turmoil. You are in my thoughts and prayers.

Solig höstsöndag 2011 060

Travel theme: Enlightened

Travel theme: Enlightened

Ailsa throws in a helping hand for us all who are both low and high these days. The world is so troubled and it is impossible not to get depressed by the news received every day. Let us all try to muster some hope, some enlightened thoughts and deeds – we need Peace, Love  and Compassion on Earth.

In the header, two old gentlemen walking in Segovia.

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Love – my son and his dog

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Love – my two children

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Love – parent and child

Dubbelporträtt2Love – drawing by my daughter of two of her friends

Love – still hiking together

WPC: Nostalgia

Nostalgia

My Islands in the World – Azores. And this little Island, Corvo. Blue Hydrangeas in the blue ocean. My daughter as a young girl…Someday I hope we will return.

Travel theme: Sound

Travel theme: Sound

Some sounds for Ailsa, from Nature! In the header – winter ice cracking into spring.

Sparkling fire on Walpurgis Night.

Mmm, the sound of water can be calm and soft, but also roaring…

And maybe the most beautiful morning sound – a spring thrush, singing when you open your window.

Kan du vakna skönare?

Share Your World – 2016 Week 39

https://ceenphotography.com/2016/09/26/share-your-world-2016-week-39/

I have never thought that anyone, anywhere, would want to know anything about Me. I share Our world every week – but my Own world…I prefer keeping most of it to myself.  – But now, these questions are put by children! Well, who can resist answering them?

  1. A class I wish I would have taken at Uni, is History. In high school we had such a bad teacher – he even made his tests with 1, X, 2 questions and corrected them by pressing the papers through nails marking the right answers…And I used to Love history!
  2. My favourite comic figure is John Cleese in Fawlty Towers. And we have two Swedish equilibrists who built all their music and all their shows on word juggling  – Povel Ramel and Tage Danielsson. Unfortunately they are not with us anymore. Clever use of words is my favourite fun.
  3. Something I wish I could like is cleaning the house – what great fun there would be every week!
  4. My first crush was on a guy in the class below me. We were 11 and 10. He was soooo good looking with dark hair and brown eyes – unusual in our ordinary Swedish school in the 1960’s, where everybody was fair or a redhead…Kissed we did at a school party…but that really was not very glamorous…
  5. When I was 10, my best friend was Margaret, a girl in the class. We were only about 10 pupils in the class – a small country school.
  6. I am a Libra, and even though I do not believe in astrology, I still enjoy reading about my future…And about the sign itself. Many of the things said about the Libra sign is very much ”me”. So…you never know…maybe there is something….

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Grateful I am for getting an invitation to follow my old friend, soon 80,  to a dinner and meeting for relatives at the home for elderly people (where she now lives). All her relatives are gone and I am her oldest friend. We have been friends for 40 years.

What I am looking forward to right now, is my two children coming home to celebrate our birthdays, mine and my daughter’s.

 

 

WPC: Quest

Cheri Lucas Rowlands encourages us to show a picture of Quest. An almost impossible task…When I think of this word, Quest, I think of all my teaching years in literature and all the glorious quests portrayed there:

 

The Epic of Gilgamesh, a Sumerian story, The Odyssey by Homer, Siddhartha by Herman Hesse, The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien, The Alchemist  by Paulo Coelho and of course The Harry Potter series by J.K Rowling.

In these stories, the protagonists set out to almost impossible tasks, leaving home and safety plunging  into the unknown. So, where am I, a 21st century, middle aged woman, in all this? What is my Quest?

I guess in my little world there are no big ”saving the world”- quests – maybe saving myself quests only. I am constantly searching for and heading towards Inner Peace, being kind and compassionate along the road. I find peace in Nature and through doing good things, helping other fellow passengers on this route.

Hopefully, one day, I will be standing there, feeling that my quest is completed. I will be  completely calm and at peace with myself and the world.

 

 

 

 

 

SL-WEEK 2-01 : Selfie

You know I am no selfie fan…but , well, here it is. For Sylvain Landry.

The photo was taken at an outdoor exhibition in Denmark. It really is enough with only one me…I bet you are thinking the same…

 

El Camino – maybe some day…

Have you ever thought about walking the 1000 year old pilgrim paths, eighthundred + kilometres, from St Jean Pied de Port in France to Santiago de Compostela in Spain?

I am thinking about it, right now…

Camino Frances Map, Camino del Norte Map, Via de la Plata Map. Camino de Santiago Maps.

This summer we met many pilgrims on our Spanish journey, and what we learned from them, was peace of mind and reflecting thoughts of life… What am I doing here and where am I going – and Why? Pain of course…but as we happened to meet so many different pilgrims, we realized how many different reasons there are for their pilgrimage and the ultimate joy and satisfaction when arriving in Santiago. Hundreds of thousands of pilgrims walk one of these routes every year, and in a couple of posts I will try to convey something of what we learned about why they choose to go through this 800 – kilometre ordeal.

On our way to Astorga and the great cathedral, we stayed at this pilgrim albergue – our first one. At the entrance we were welcomed by Evilio, and immediately he set the mood: Contemplative and calm – Total Harmony.

Every morning we were awakened by the sound of the pilgims’ sticks. The earlier you are up, the earlier you will be at your goal for the day. First to the albergue gets a bed.

The Camino was just outside our window. And every evening there were new pilgrims lodging – and hopefully telling their story. Some did not want to talk much though. According to the old tradition, you should not talk during your journey. You should stay concentrated on your inner qualities.

Late in the evening, these two friends would come walking after a tour on the Camino. The yellow stone is the mark.

Keep your window open…

WPC: Mirror

Mirror, mirror on the wall…Which is the best representation of them all?

This is a challenge where I think most people have many options in their archives – interesting…which ones do we choose?

In the header is a Bilbao photo from opposite the Guggenheim museum. There is this house mirroring a bridge with a red car passing. The other three photos I guess you have seen before – if you are following my blog.

For more of mirrors, click here.

Switzerland, the Fluela Pass in the early morning.

My beloved Mille…looking out for me, walking in the late evening.

Hamnen, Auckland. Vid fiskmarknaden.

 Auckland harbour by the fish market.

Travel theme: History

Travel theme: History

To me, maybe China and the Great Wall stands out when I think of History. Not only is it very old, but there is so much history behind the building of the wall, so many lost lives and such a fascinating idea from the start.

So, I keep returning to it…