Dallas, TX –
My editor has abandoned me.
I don’t mean abandoned, as in she left me.
No, Dore is still here, and we are still together.
But she is no longer editing any of my work.
Her time is being spent in the classroom.
Living in a National Park
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.
A Pot of Tea, With a Ritual…
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.
Bayon, and the Watching Faces
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.
Coffee, from Seedling to Roasted
Alajuela, Costa Rica –
Coffee.
It’s my drug of choice.
Every morning.
And I’m very glad that I already have it in my cabinet, ready to dump into the coffee maker every morning.
Especially now that I know just exactly what goes into getting it there…
Its not like I didn’t know, but I hadn’t seen the whole process myself.
From the tiniest of seedlings to fully grown, bean-producing plants.
From the harvesting to the roasting.
I mean, yeah, I had an idea of how it all goes, but there’s nothing like seeing it for myself.
A Peaceful Hour in the Woods
San Francisco, CA –
There’s one detail that has always irked me about taking an organized tour.
I’m not talking about a tour of a specific place, where a guide is walking you through, telling you about details you otherwise wouldn’t know.
I’m talking about bus tours of cities, where you are going to multiple sights.
Yes, it’s a good way to see all of the highlights of a city in a single morning or afternoon.
But every place you stop and get off the bus, the clock is ticking.
You have a limited amount of time to see the sight before the bus takes off again.
River-Front Yards
Bangkok, Thailand –
What was that?
There, just on top of the water.
It looks like a giant lizard head, or kind of like a crocodile head.
Wait, there it goes, up the stairs into someone’s back yard.
Definitely not moving like a crocodile.
Is that? Is it?
It’s a Water Monitor!
A very large Monitor Lizard.
Boy, I’m glad it’s not my back yard it just went into…
On Top of the World
Cotopaxi, Ecuador –
It’s quiet, at the top of the world.
Peaceful, with the only sounds being the wind, and your travel companions.
Well, and the occasional suicidal bicyclist.
Of course, it could be that we’re here in the middle of the week, so everyone’s home, at work or at school.
Coming here on a weekend or holiday might be a different story.
Still, there’s a certain beauty in the desolation.
The absence of most life.
Well above the tree line, where the vegetation is mostly scrub.
And other than the wild horses, there’s not much in the way of wildlife to be seen.
Of course, there are plenty of rocks and boulders.
After all, this is an active volcano that we’re standing on.
Or, at least, semi-active.
A History of Plants – Hortus Botanicus
Amsterdam, The Netherlands –
We had passed by several times, fascinated by the huge greenhouse on the edge of the canal.
It was obviously some sort of botanical garden.
And it made sense; after all we were staying just down the street, directly across from the zoo.
All we had to do was turn left as we exited our hotel, and within a couple of blocks, we would find ourselves walking past the entrance.
So, after a couple of days, Dore wanted to see what they might have hidden behind those walls.
After all, she loves flowers and plants.
As for myself, I’m fascinated by unusual looking plants.
Ones you don’t normally see in people’s flower gardens.
Neither of us was disappointed.
It was like stepping back into a living part of city history.
From back when Amsterdam was a center of international trade.
Back when the city sent ships to all corners of the known world, returning with all sorts of discoveries and goods to sell and trade.
Back when Europe was struck with the plague.