again, click on a photo to open - this "gallery" format has cropped the photos in an unintended way. thanks :)
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three things i am thankful for:
- today’s SUNSHINE - merino wool underlayers on sale (for the weather 10 seconds/hours from now!) - PUNK ROCK SCENE IN YANGON!!! yes! Suzanne sent me articles (thankful 4), and I am going to Myanmar in between Indonesia and Thailand, now that xmas in Vietnam is (sadly) not happening… a good dose of punk rock immersion right before 10 day silent retreat? life is GOOD!! How trippy will that be - days roaming buddhist temple sites and nights in the mosh pit?! i will make sense of it all :))) HI! really, i have nothing to say at the moment, but given the gloom of past entries, i feel obliged to say that it is WARM & GORGEOUS today!!! so so lovely to feel the sun on my skin.this bodes well for alpine crossing soon, altho weather could flip at any second... and will... but whatever - hallelujah praises all 'round, hello sunshine :))))
ok bye. Raglan-Hamilton-Taupo. 10/23 & 10/24
Early morning bus with sleepy school kids. More rolling velvet greens rising up electric and sweeping down regal, fissures and folds, valleys, streams, naked and knobby little newly shorn sheep…This landscape is so sexy !!! Closer to Taupo the idyllic and bucolic hyper-green scenery gave way to a more grim scene; the fields flattened out as if they had been razed so, and the geometry of the timber industry and agri-business imposed itself on the land as far as the eye could see. It was a sad quilt indeed - whatever forests there were were not old growth, but carbon copy stands of equally spaced future paper products, punctuated by huge brown scars of clearcut and jumbles of dried out, bulldozed stumps, and pasture lands that looked thin and poor and incapable of sustaining life at all (there were, in fact, no living creatures anywhere to be seen). Truthfully, it was pretty depressing, and a humbling reminder of our effect on this earth. Taupo itself is…kind of squat and sprawled and, at least the slice of it I am seeing, full of big box stores and streets that are entirely composed of mini-malls. Lonely Planet recommended this hostel in particular, boasting friendly staff and “super-comfy beds”. This much is true, and I am very appreciative of it, particularly the beds… but that is ALL the place has to recommend it. A kind of dingy, pretty charmless cinderblock compound (think barracks or even The Projects), flanked by a busy thoroughfare, the massive Pak’n’Save monstrosity, and…not much more. yeah… dunno how long I’ll stay in town - probably just long enough to see Susan for a day or 2 and then split. Early this morning I went to the farmer’s market (bought some watercress) and then continued, in the pouring rain, wandering along the river. I ended up on a 3 hour trek up to Huka Falls. It was very gorgeous - I think my pictures quite fail to capture the intensity of colors of the river valley, and the river itself, but trust me - stunning! Wild riots of birds and, at least on the way there, hardly a soul on the “track” (kiwi for path). Came back to the barracks starving and tired, et voila - here I write, and eventually, gods willing, to read. There is a cackling (truly) “Hen Party” right outside my window/door, so it’s hard to concentrate on reading at the moment. They are celebrating the imminent marriage of one among them, and are dressed up super-bizarrely, like cheap clowns with over-sized bras and underwear worn over their clothing and goofy hats!!! I thought it was perhaps an amateur clown convention or something, so went out to ask and say “cheers”… nope - just a whacky kiwi “Hen Party” (bridal shower)…fun fun fun… Apologies if the blog seems bogged down… been cold and damp for weeks, it feels like, hormonal to boot, and today, feeling a little sad and lost. It’s all part of the rich tapestry of La Vie Humaine, not to worry, mates :) iphone pretty poor for sweeping shots of gorgeous blue-green rivers and such, so excuse lack of artistry - just wanted to give a sense of the river, the power of the falls, the steaming "spa" pool on the way, in addition to my now customary obsession with nature's erotica.
Waited out 2 meteorological flips this morning before heading out up the tidal flats to find The Horse Woman’s house…and got only across the footbridge that crosses the estuary by the hostel before getting slammed by a 3rd. Walked, therefore, headlong into the squall the whole way to the point, getting thoroughly drenched from head to toe… but I found her house (not her), left a note (in a ziplock bag which I pinned to her door), and walked back under sun and wind and was almost dry by the time I reached town again!
Heartwarming pitstop at the library (wifi-land) to read emails and blog comments (thank you for writing, peeps!!), and now “home”. The weather seems intent now on staying pissy, so I’m hunkering down to write for a bit. My 3 French boys (dormmates) are out being amazed by Raglan, so it’s quiet in here, but for the birds (who, of course, are lovely and not a distraction!) Awoke in a hormonal shade of blue this morning - nothing devastating, just the weight of mental habit on mind & soul; the subtle conviction that I must be somehow different, other than I am, to be loved, to be worthy of love. It’s rubbish, of course, just Human Condition 101, but it does bubble up from the muck now & then. What it does tell me is that I need to refocus on the practices that heal this early wound - I’ve gotten a little distracted by comings and goings and making travel plans, etc. It is interesting, though, the relationship between our strengths and the limitations they can impose. Helen MacDonald (“H is for Hawk”) wrote a lot about being an observer - a keen and valuable talent honed from a childhood of “disappearing” herself from the company of humans in favor of watching them. And in sensitivity to the world, the vulnerability to wounding and the propensity for compassion and the care of others. Yin/Yang, Light & Shadow - it has been far more beautifully put elsewhere… but I am listening close, and softening to receive some wisdom about these things :) The Horse Woman, by the way, is a local woman named Pim, who rehabilitates retired racehorses, and who occasionally, I was told, needs help. I am trying to contact her to offer mine, for the last 2 weeks I’ll be in new Zealand. It’d mean seeing a bit less of this wild & woolly island, but for an experience so dear to my heart, I would make the sacrifice. We shall see what she says, and take it from there. Back at Raglan Backpackers. oh the wind…pretty much a constant here, it’s just a matter of degree : /
Lots of new faces here - the requisite German contingent of course, but also some French & Canadian hippies, an Israeli, a Scot, &...?. Heart ever so slightly sunken at news from Suzanne that they will not be able to make Xmas in Vietnam happen… dang, would've made such a good punk rock song! Oh well… I am going to spend some time this evening with maps and guides and think things through. |
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December 2016
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