Smile when your beloved makes you happy, let them know when they make you mad, and miss them when they’re not there. Love hard when there is love to be had. Because perfect people don’t exist, but there’s always one person that is perfect for you.
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On our last morning in Muscat we explored the district known as Muttrah. This is the city’s commercial heart, home to its port and a number of sights. Our walk took us from the bustling fish market at its northern end past the port to the equally busy souk near the far end.
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You can’t travel far in Oman without hearing the word frankincense. Every Omani home burns this fragrant resin daily, it is an intrinsic part of Omani life. Not only does it make the home smell nice, it also keeps flying insects such as mosquitoes at bay. The best quality frankincense is steeped overnight in water which is then drunk at breakfast time to treat a variety of ailments. And inhaling the smoke is said to be good for asthma.
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One reason for our planning to spend several days in Santa Fe on our New Mexico road trip was to visit nearby Bandelier National Monument. I had read a lot about it and knew it was just the sort of place we would enjoy visiting. Then a few months before our visit a wildfire swept through the area, devastating over 146,000 acres, including about 60% of Bandelier’s area. Almost all of the monument was closed to visitors.
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We could all use a laugh from time to time, and maybe more than ever over the last few years. It seems to be part of human nature to look for humour in the darkest times.
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It seems to me that holding a camera gives a lot of people a sense of freedom. They appear more relaxed, less constrained by their surroundings. So what a great opportunity that is for the rest of us who are also carrying a camera with an eye to some street photography!
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When Beatrix Potter adapted Aesop’s fable about the town mouse and the country mouse, in her picture book The Tale of Johnny Town-Mouse, she concluded that tastes differ. Some of us seem born to city life, others are happiest in the country. I fall firmly into the first group.
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In the ancient streets of Bukhara history weaves itself effortlessly around the present-day lives of its people. Here you get a real sense of continuity. The world of the Silk Road caravans isn’t preserved in the aspic of Khiva; nor tucked into islands among the modern-day bustle of Samarkand; it is an ever-present backdrop to daily life. To walk these streets, duck through the low arches of the caravanserai and trading domes, sit for a while over green tea by the pool of Lyab-i-Huaz; this is what people of this city have done for centuries.
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With the recent change in fortunes of our football team, Newcastle United, following the (some would say controversial) sale to rich owners, there is a sense of optimism among the Toon Army. And who are the Toon Army, you ask? They are the fans who follow the Toon (Geordie dialect for ‘town’) through thick and thin, good times and bad.
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There’s little I enjoy more when travelling than a visit to a local market. Large or small there is always plenty to see, and therefore to photograph. And you can gain great insights into the way of life in the country. What do local people eat? How do they dress? How indeed do they shop?
