April Photoblogging Challenge, Day 5: Serene suggested by @chiawase

My quiet spot, wherever I am in the world, by the River Wye at Tintern Abby

Weeping Willow over hanging the River Wye in South Wales

Looking out over Bristol tonight.

Looking out over the city of Bristol at nighttime

April Photoblogging Challenge, Day 4: Foliage suggested by @pratik

A remote valley on the north east side of Haleakala.

Looking out into a remote and heavily wooded valley on the north east side of Haleakala

April Photoblogging Challenge, Day 1: Toy suggested by @pcora

A row of wooden toys in the shape of castles, people and animals, all sitting on a shelf with a window behind. Outside there is blue sky and a green hedge.

This morning’s rainbow 🌈

A rainbow traverses the sky, slightly broken by cloud. In the foreground is a flower bed full of vegetation and a lawn.

I love this overcast, wet weather. I have the French windows open so that I can listen to the sound of the falling rain, and as it trickles down the down pipe from the gutters.

A heavily overcast sky, rain falling, a herbaceous border with a lawn in the foreground. On the lawn is a wheelbarrow with plants in it.

Cheeky Devil in China Town, Honolulu.

A sticker on a pipe depicting a walking green devil with black shoes on, small white wings, a pointy tail, a smiley face with horns on top, and above him a halo

A Little Bit of Magic in the Air

Maui has so many microclimates, and with that the weather can vary in a very short space of time. Yesterday from what I could see most of the island was covered in cloud. Where I live there was a lot of wind, but I had to run Upcountry and there the air was very different. It was still, so still. Even the landscape felt still. Being March there was a little chill in the air as well. These conditions, along with the distant views available Upcountry, brought a little magic to the surroundings.

For a while I could feel the presence of the little corner of South Wales where I lived before moving to the US.

I lived in the same area for just shy of twenty years, a small rural village at the end of four miles of country roads. It was very quiet there, few distractions. Radio was my only source of media entertainment. I had no television and the internet (dialup) only arrived a few years before I left. I spent a lot of time outside experiencing the elements. I felt as though I became very intimate with that landscape. It became very familiar to me. With time, through living there and the lack of distractions, my mind quietened down and started to recognize subtleties in environment, the magic in the air. The place became special to me, truly home.

Over two decades later I still remember that corner of South Wales fondly. It has a place in my heart. Yesterday I was transported back there.

An overcast day with a broad mountain top visible above low clouds. Fields and trees extend to the middle distance. In the foreground is a hedge with some purple and red flowers in it.
Haleakala peeks above an overcast sky

Graffiti faces seen around China Town in Honolulu.

Graffiti on a doorway of a face, big eyes, triangular nose, with a concerned and worried expression. Various scribbles around and a padlock and chain hikding the door locked.

A couple of graffiti, cartoon faces on a street wall, one white, one black, both happy, cheeky looking with various other scribbles and writing over and around them.

Now this is something that I had not seen or tasted before. A green Matcha (green tea) IPA. We had been gifted a sushi meal at Islander Sake Brewery in China Town, Honolulu, and they served as this Matcha IPA from Kyoto. I think that this is the brew? Very tasty, and certainly a striking colour.

Two small glasses of green matcha beer, an IPA, with the server in the background serving two other customers.

Yesterday we visited the Honolulu Museum of Art to see an exhibition of David Hockney prints, both old and new. I had wanted to see this exhibition and with my wife’s birthday a couple of days before the exhibition closes, it made for good timing for a reason to head over to Honolulu to view it.

A huge David Hockney painting with two images of himself sat in chairs viewing prints that he has created.

In China Town, Honolulu yesterday evening.

Drawing of a blue and red Dragon on a door with the words, Dragon Upstairs

The Clean Up Crew - a flock of white egrets chasing the mower as the grass is cut.

A lot of white egrets on a mown lawn with a mixture trees and bushes around. A patch of blue sky with storm clouds brewing.

The Wall that Heals

A wall standing on grass with names on it extends to the distance. Leis are draped over it, flower offerings on the grass and people in the background

A little over two weeks ago The Wall that Heals, a touring replica of the Vietnam Wall Memorial hosted by the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund, arrived in Maui. It was here for five days, and I went to visit it the day before it left. I saw the actual Memorial in Washington DC almost forty years ago, and although then I knew no one connected with the war and indeed little about the war, I found the Wall very moving.

When I heard of this replica’s visit to the island I decided that I wanted to visit. By the time that it had arrived on Maui I had a cold that was depleting my energy. Nevertheless, I did not want to miss the opportunity and one morning drove to the War Memorial Stadium where it was being housed. I was planning to be home within a couple of hours…that didn’t happen.

The Wall tours in a truck. When it arrives at its next destination, the sides of the truck serve as an exhibition relating the history of the war through words, videos and relics. The Wall itself is housed in sections inside the truck, and is taken out and assembled upon arrival at the new destination.

I found the exhibition very informative and moving, and this was a good part of what caused me to be later home than my planned couple of hours. With the Wall situated inside the stadium, noise from outside was muted, providing a quiet, reflective atmosphere for your time at the Wall. I started and one end and slowly made my way to the other. Previous visitors had left flowers and notes in memory of fallen family members. I located some of those soldiers, and it gave for me a greater sense of connection to these names just being ordinary people who found themselves in extraordinary circumstances.

I walked the length of the Wall, past the names of over 58,000 American soldiers who died between 1955 to 1975. The magnitude of the Memorial and accompanying exhibition, along with many conflicting questions and maybe sadness as well, caused me to forget my cold until I was on my way home.

A table outside set for dinner last night, with friends having just arrived from out of State. Although a fire was lit in the fire pit and chairs set around it, a stormy evening dissuaded anyone (apart from myself) from hanging out around it.

A table outside but undercover set for dinner. A fire pit with chairs around it at the end of the table.

This afternoon’s rainbow, with a second very faint one just above it. 🌈

A rainbow over a hedge with a dark sky. A propane tank is in the middle of the hedge. A lawn in the foreground has the shadow of a roof on it.

The Story Behind the Photograph: From the Roof of a Bus

A view from the roof of a moving bus. A small paved road in India. On either side is brown dust and trees. Buildings and maybe a temple are visible on the left. Directly behind the bus is donkey drawn buggy with a few people in and good on the roof. Behind that a little ways off is a bus with people and luggage sitting on the roof. The bus is half in the dirt, half on the road. Going in the opposite direction is a bicycle with someone riding on the back. People can be seen in the background. A telegraph pole and wires run down the righthand side of the road
Road from Gaya to Bodhgaya from the roof of a bus

Following my time in Patna, I continued my journey onto Bodhgaya by catching a train to the city of Gaya. I travelled to Gaya by train along with an American, Ray, whom I had met in Patna. I had an omelette for breakfast in my hotel room, settled up with the hotel owner and then caught a rickshaw along with Ray to the railway station. There was a lot of misunderstanding between us and the rickshaw driver, and when we settled up on arrival we weren’t sure if his annoyance was because we’d paid too little, or if it was a show to get some more money? We chose to leave things as they were. I went to buy a newspaper to read on the journey and then went to find our train and carriage. On reaching our second class seats there was still plenty of room on board. However, the train soon filled up and by the time that we were underway seating became tight and squashed even though we thought that the express train that we were on would negate that experience. This was our first Indian train and we were still learning.

Seated, I picked up the newspaper that I had bought earlier. I had a quick flick through it and passed it onto Ray, not engaging much with the stories. Ray quickly passed it back to me, pointing out the article below.

Newspaper clipping from The Times of India on November 14, 1989, announcing the unveiling of a Buddha statue on November 18 at the Daijokyo Buddhist temple in Bodhgaya by His Holiness the Dalai Lama

I couldn’t believe it. Just to say that at that time I didn’t really know who the Dalai Lama was. I was aware of his existence, but that was about it. And this was 1989. He wasn’t the world figure that he is today. Subsequently, people who I met who had been around him for a number of years prior said that 1989 was the year that things changed for His Holiness. That was the year that he was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize and really came to the world’s attention.

All of this aside, I was still excited. I had an unexpected but growing interest in Buddhism, was traveling to Bodhgaya because of this (I did not know of the village’s existence when I left home just over four months earlier), and now I find out that the Dalai Lama would be there at the same time that I was visiting.

We spent a day in Gaya, just exploring the streets making up the city. As in Patna we encountered demonstrations related to the upcoming elections. Nothing to disrupt our day, but another presence in the town. I had read and noted in my journal that Gaya,

is 2nd only to Varanasi in its sanctity.

Here is what I wrote about some of those wanderings.

We headed off through the crowded shopping streets, street vendors selling peanuts, fruits and a few other concoctions. We disappeared down some further backstreets, finding ourselves staired [sic] at a lot. We passed what appeared to be a loading bay for sacks of this and that. Back streets were filthy, really dirty. Stagnant black, scummy water in open drains. Piles of rubbish, there is one across the road from the hotel which the cows make good use of. Muddy streets, black mud, and ponds lying in the middle of the road. Rickshaws go by ringing bells, bicycles go by ringing bells, scouters go by making rasping noises with horns, autorickshaws, later in the day heat & dust.

We found the Vishnupad Mandir on the banks of the Phalgu River on which Gaya itself also sits. Not being Hindus, we were not allowed in the temple, but that did not matter. Gaya was offering us a lot to take in as it was. The river itself was more like a series of smaller rivers right now. There were people down by the river washing clothes, hanging around or making their way across. Dogs and cows joined them.

The Phalgu River in the Indian city of Gaya. The mostly dried up river is now a series of small rivers and puddles. People cross singularly and in groups, some pushing bicycles, some carrying baskets, sacks and other goods. Cows are also in the river, old and young. A couple of people are bathing. Some are washing clothes
The Phalgu River in Gaya

Ray and I found a chai store where we sat down to eat, drink and watch life go by - a favourite occupation of mine.

The next day we travelled south to Bodhgaya. Rickshaw drivers and private vehicle owners tried to tempt us with rides for the 13km journey to Gaya, but we opted for the cheapest option - a Rs1.50 bus journey and the subject matter of the photograph at the top of this piece. We sat on the the roof to enjoy the journey and better see the environment that we were passing through. Leaving Gaya we had to be careful of low hanging power cables, but once out of town that was no longer a bother. Again, I’ll let my journal tell the tale,

…through flat agricultural land, small temples here and there, horse carts, autorickshaws, buses, horns honking. On our left was the dried up River Phalgu.

Arriving in Bodhgaya we had a chai before going off looking for accommodation. I scouted while Ray watched our backpacks. Finally housed in a hotel we went off to take a look around the village and see what Bodhgaya had install for us.

Yesterday morning’s view at sunrise.

An early morning view at sunrise with lush green grass in the foreground, a variety of plants and trees in the middle, and a dramatic sky filled with golden clouds above

My wife gave me two of these metal tumblers from Japan for Valentines Day. They are great at keeping drinks cold…, and look good as well.

A textured metal tumbler on a cutting board. The background is softly blurred.

Cartoon drawing of a man in a tracksuit running, a headband on his head, and writing below saying that week 3 of Couch to 5K program has been completed

Well there’s week 3 of the Watch to 5K program completed. The conditions were perfect today - overcast, barely a breeze, and a comfortable temperature. There was some stiffness, but I was feeling better with the longer runs.