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.
Dallas, TX –
It seems I’ve reached that age…
What age would that be?
The age where it seems that about every other week, yet another one of the musicians who contributed to my teenage soundtrack dies.
Now, don’t get me wrong. There’s always been members of that fraternity who’ve died, even during my teenage years.
But back then, most of them were due to their lifestyle.
Drug overdoses and plane crashes.
Oh, and the occasional gunshot wound.
Dallas, TX –
Guilty pleasures, we’ve all got them.
Maybe its watching trashy, so-called “reality” shows on television.
Maybe it’s pigging out on Cheetos using chopsticks so that the telltale orange powder doesn’t coat your fingers like gloves.
Maybe its following click-bait links to discover what might be revealed in the “shocking” historical photos they promise to reveal.
Whatever your guilty pleasure might be, you’ve got one, and you may or may not keep it hidden from others.
Wait, I take that back. You’re more likely broadcasting it on Facebook than hiding it from others.
For a moment, I forgot what age we’re living in.
The age of advertising our every thought in hopes of finding others who think the same way.
Or at least will “like” what we’ve thought.
Dallas, TX –
It’s Steve’s fault.
That’s my story, and I’m sticking to it.
Not that he did anything.
I mean, I’ve never met the guy.
From what I understand, he’s a perfectly nice chap.
Very polite, and easy to get along with.
But I’m still going to place the blame squarely in his lap.
After all, if it wasn’t for him, none of this would have turned out the way it did.
Therefore, it’s his fault.
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.
