🌴 After a week living in a wind tunnel, last night the winds finally appeared to have blown themselves out. It was still when I returned home yesterday evening, and we are waking up to the same this morning.

🌴 After a week living in a wind tunnel, last night the winds finally appeared to have blown themselves out. It was still when I returned home yesterday evening, and we are waking up to the same this morning.

A Memory

I’ve just left Mahatma Gandhi’s ashram situated just outside of the small town of Sevagram in almost the geographical center of India. I had spent a couple of night’s at the ashram as part of a pilgrimage around India that I had set out on, to visit places connected with the life of Gandhi. He has been a big influence on my life, and I have read a lot by and about him.

Continue reading β†’

A rainbow is never far away here, but the wet and windy weather is producing some good ones at the moment 🌈

The arch of a rainbow against a dark sky. Black gates in the foreground with start of a driveway. A tree and hedge go to the distance. A digger and house can be seen amongst green vegetation

Yes I keep saying it, but today’s Watch to 5K run felt hard. At one stage I thought that I was going to start walking during a running stage. Admittedly the island is still experiencing strong winds, but my legs felt a stiffness in them today. …Onto the next leg…

On a roll at the moment. This evening’s rainbow 🌈

A full arc rainbow against a dark, rain threatening sky. A bush and lawn in the background. A concrete wall and partial driveway with wood stacked against the wall in the foreground

The Rubin Will Close Its Physical Space and Become a β€˜Museum Without Walls’ - I’m sad to see this happening. I don’t visit New York often, but when the opportunity allowed I loved spending time (long periods of) in the Rubin Museum, taking in its displays of Himalayan art. Still a central tenant of Buddhism is impermanence.

🌬️ I’m not happy with this strong wind. It has been here for a few days now, and it looks like at least another two more days. I’d really appreciate it stopping.

🌬️ I’m not happy with this strong wind. It has been here for a few days now, and it looks like at least another two more days. I’d really appreciate it stopping.

My last run on the Watch to 5K program was last Wednesday, January 31st. The program is structured so that you run every other day. The day in between is for rest and to allow the body to build its strength. However, a cold front moved across the State this last weekend bringing some strong weather with it. Because of that I missed my Friday and Sunday runs.

Today I got back into running schedule, repeating the run that I did on Wednesday - the first of week three. Although the wind was strong, overall I felt comfortable today. Initially there was some stiffness in my legs. However, as I worked my way through that, I paced myself better than last week, most likely because through repetition I knew what was coming as I worked through today’s program.

I have been playing around with the Feedbin iOS app and found out completely by accident that it is possible to save searches. Searches of all feeds or selected. It feels like creating a feed of one’s own, looking out for subject matter that interests me.

The Story Behind the Photograph: A View Over the River Ganges

Photo of a slide projected onto a wall. It was mid November, 1989. I was four months into my journey through Central Asia. With my visa expiring, my time in Nepal was drawing to a close. Not feeling ready to go home, indeed a deeper sense of purpose and exploration beginning to arise from the trip thus far, I decided to travel down to India. I had left home with a few vague goals of things that I wanted to see or do, otherwise I was following my nose and seeing where the adventures would take me.

Continue reading β†’

This morning’s rainbow 🌈

A complete rainbow arching across a small valley, grass and shrubs in the foreground, the ocean in the background

We went to a birthday party on the south side of the island last night. It was an enjoyable evening. Just before sunset a whale and her calf swam by the house where the party was being held. As if to send birthday wishes, the calf waved it tail in the air a few times as it went by.

A collection of lit candles and string lights set on a vibrant, multicolored textile surface outdoors at dusk, with silhouettes of palm trees in the background.

A silhouette of a tree against a twilight sky, with small lit lanterns along a garden path leading to a house with illuminated windows in the background.

Sunset at a beach with silhouettes of palm trees, a colorful sky, and green bush in the foreground.

Resting and warming my feet on rocks around a campfire, at night.

Unbeknownst to the friend who text me this, I was just about to walk into the chemist (pharmacy) when he sent me this.

I miss Adams' writing.

Space … is big. Really big. You just won’t believe how vastly hugely mind-bogglingly big it is. I mean, you may think it’s a long way down the road to the chemist, but that’s just peanuts to space.

Douglas Adams, The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy

I have a number of photographs from our trip to Portugal last year which never saw the light of day because of me catching pneumonia and becoming so unwell. So I am revisiting a Sunday day trip to the town of Beja. During our walk around town we came across some interesting graffiti. Here is a selection of it.

Graffiti art on a door depicting an evolutionary transition from an ape holding a spear to a modern human wearing a beanie and Crocs, while holding a fast-food sandwich and with his hand over his genitals

A vibrant painting on an outside wall of three giraffes against a pink background with silhouettes of tree

Street art mural depicting a topless woman with red hair and eyeglasses lounging on a lifebuoy in water, accompanied by a white cat, with stylized faces of two people in the clouds above. The artwork is framed by a real door

A colorful mural painted on a door depicting a tower of stylized skulls with a background of leaves and two large sets of eyes above. A pink uterus-like shape with a red heart hangs in the center between the eyes, and cut apples on either side

Today was a WatchTo5K … actually I suppose that it still is? The thing is that it has been raining pretty much consistently since yesterday evening. Everything from light drizzle to torrential rain. This morning has been more of the latter. The roads are turning into rivers and there is localized flooding. I don’t mind getting wet while running, but setting off into hard rain does not feel like an enjoyable experience. I want to improve my fitness, not try to prove my strength against any sort of weather.

I have an appointment later. If the weather has eased by then, I’ll take a run. Otherwise there will be no run today, and I’ll resume tomorrow (before the idea starts to creep into my mind to skip the program πŸ˜‰).

I’ve watched the first two episodes of Masters of the Air on TV+. I probably should have done this in the first episode, but for the second episode I turned on subtitles as in places I was struggling to understand what was being said. I notice this more often these days in films and series on streaming services, sound feels more muffled in places.

I’m pretty sure, or would like to think that it is not aging ears. Having read similar comments elsewhere, I wonder if there have been changes in filming practices, or more specifically sound recording?

I’ve just completed my first run of the third week of the WatchTo5K program. This was the hardest so far - I wonder how many times I will be saying that before this training is over?! A couple of longer runs in the middle of the walk/run sequence (and the heat didn’t help). I still find it hard to believe that I’ll be running 5K in seven weeks, but I’m sticking with it. πŸƒβ€β™‚οΈ

πŸ“±Well I finally decided to reinstall a cover on my phone. I'd like it to last another year or so, at least, and don't know if I can trust myself not to drop it.