Columbus, OH –
“Do you play?”
It was a valid question.
After all, I had just walked into his shop, looked around at the various Ouds that he had on display, ignoring the rest of his merchandise, pointed to the one he had hanging in the entryway, and asked if I could take a closer look at it.
Not exactly a typical tourist, looking for a souvenir to take home.
See, it was my last day in Amman, the capital of Jordan.
I would be flying home the next day.
Amphawa, Thailand –
“Ride ‘em, cowboy!”
The phrase entered my head as the child hopped on the statue of a fighting cock like it was a horse.
Hands on the neck, he was ready to ride.
The fact that it was a bird didn’t seem to phase him.
It was an animal, and it was just his size.
He could care less about what else there was to see here.
Eventually, his parents enticed him off the cock, and on to the temple.
After all, that was what they had come here to see.
It’s not every day you see a temple inside a tree.
Den Hauge, Netherlands –
Something I’ve always found interesting is looking at the similarities and differences between cultures.
One aspect of this, in particular, are the fairy tales and other stories that we tell our kids as they are growing up.
And having grown up in the U.S., a descendant of mostly European ancestors…
Among other kids with similar ancestry…
There are a lot of stories and tales that I grew up with that came from Europe.
Yet go to any particular region in Europe and dig deep enough, I can come up with tales that are unfamiliar and new to me.
Some of them have to do with the nature of the tales.
San Jose, CA –
There’s something about eccentrics that fascinate us.
You know, those people that are just different.
They don’t quite comply with the accepted norms of society in some way.
Maybe in lots of ways.
Most of us don’t want to be one, but we still love to be entertained by them.
If you ask me, I think many of us envy them.
We are often burdened with trying to blend in with the crowd.
Trying to live and behave the way society expects us to.
And we respect and admire those among us who don’t care what society thinks.
It’s almost as if we see marching to the beat of a different drummer as an act of bravery.
An act of defiance.
Well, maybe it is.
Or maybe it’s more an act of fear.
I think it depends on the nature of the eccentricity.
Mindo, Ecuador –
It was a long hike down the mountainside to reach the river.
We had the option of swimming, if we had brought our swimsuits.
We hadn’t.
And there were families there.
So we figured it wasn’t a good idea to strip down to our birthday suits for a quick dip.
Not that that’s allowed.
Although there were people swimming in what looked like underwear.
But then we’d have to spend the rest of the day with wet underwear under our clothes.
Something about that just doesn’t appeal to us.
Maybe it’s because we’re not young and carefree enough.
Maybe it’s because we can imagine how that would feel after a couple of hours.
I mean, it’d be one thing if we were staying nearby and could go change into dry clothes afterward.
But we weren’t.
Versailles, France –
It’s hard to believe that this place is still used to host foreign dignitaries.
It would be like staying in a museum.
Then again, I’m not a king.
Those guys are probably used to living in places like this.
Lots of rooms all decked out with antiques that belonged to kings from long ago.
Me? I prefer furnishings I don’t have to worry about damaging.
But if you’re a king, you probably don’t worry about that anyway.
It’s someone else’s concern.
Chaing Mai, Thailand –
Up the dirt and gravel road the van went.
Up and further up the mountainside.
We were in a national park, so it wasn’t surprising to me that the road was narrow and made of dirt.
Just shy of complete wilderness.
Wander five feet off the road and it might have been complete wilderness.
Suddenly, we came upon a few shacks as we arrived at the village.
From being in thick jungle to being in the middle of a small village, all within a few feet.
Montreal, Canada –
A ritual.
I ordered a tea that came with a ritual.
I wasn’t expecting this.
Not that I knew what to expect.
In fact, none of this was what I expected.
After all, we’re in Old Montreal, not the Oriental Quarter.
Yes, we’re still reasonably close to the Oriental Quarter, but far enough away that we don’t expect to come across a Chinese teashop, just past what looks like an Antique Christmas shop.
But come across it we did.
And in we went.
Siem Reap, Cambodia –
As I pulled out a couple of dollars to drop in the donation plate, the little old lady keeper of this particular Buddha statue became very excited and animated.
First, she grabbed several lit sticks of incense, put them in my hand, and mimed what I should do (3-4 bows to the Buddha).
As I was doing what she had instructed, she grabbed a length of red yarn and quickly tied it around my left wrist.
Finally, she directed me to place the sticks of incense in a pot of sand, among the remains of many other sticks from previous visitors.
I had reached the central, highest Buddha among the many in Bayon, so I thought “while in Rome”, figuring that I would curry a little favor with the local deity.
Assuming you can call Buddha “local”.
Then again, I was in his territory.
