Sacred Stone

Carved in sacred stone

upon temples of the Nile,

the history of Kings.

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I've just discovered a new haiku meme! When I saw that the prompt word for today was 'sacred', I immediately thought of Egypt.
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For more haiku, may I suggest you stop by
Haiku Heights at the following link...

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http://haiku-heights.blogspot.com/

A Canadian Autumn

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Autumn strikes a pose,

that we might better admire
her fine russet gown…

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Indian summer
is a callous lover who

heeds not winters call...

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Summer sheds her green

attire to wrap herself in

cloaks of burnished gold...
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I am linking this post to the Thursday Think Tank Prompt at Poets United. To check out more poems, please visit the link below...
http://poetryblogroll.blogspot.com/

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The photo effects above are courtesy of Funny Photo at the following link...

http://funny.pho.to/

International Peace Day 2010

Haiku for Peace

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'Neath skin dark or light

beats a heart that knows only

the colour of love...

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Children are the same the world over. The lively and curious youngsters I met in this African village in 2006 were kindred spirits to the giggling, rambunctious kids who frolicked through a shared childhood with my own offspring in Canada.

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To a child, each day is an adventure and life is always more about sharing than dividing. I propose this may be a recipe for serenity at any age...

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On this visit, one grinning young lad clasped onto my arms and would not let go. As he snuggled in close against me, I was reminded of my much-loved sons at that age, bursting as they were with the curious mixture of independence and affection that changed them from moment to moment as they grew into their own skin.
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How can it be that the complete acceptance we embrace in childhood so often dissipates by the time we reach adulthood?
I have not found the anwer to this question that so desperately needs explained. If we seekers of the world work together, is it not possible we may gain back the ability to trust and to share wholeheartedly? I have to believe it can be so.
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September 21st, 2010 is

International Peace Day.

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I am posting this haiku simultaneously here and on my other blog, Imagination Lane, to join my voice to the worldwide prayer that we may one day put an end to the madness of war...and that peace may then allow us to begin the long journey toward healing our fragile world.

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Let this peace be our bequest to the children of

today...and their promise for tomorrow.

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Namaste

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If you would like to know more about these wonderful youngsters, you might want to check out some earlier posts...

http://theimaginativetraveler.blogspot.com/2010/07/dreams-of-africa.html http://theimaginativetraveler.blogspot.com/2010/08/africas-true-treasure.html
http://theimaginativetraveler.blogspot.com/2010/07/giraffe-rescue-centre-kenya.html
http://theimaginativetraveler.blogspot.com/2010/07/forgotten-generation-aids-orphans-in.html

Egyptian Shadows

As my last post was of Egyptian skies, I thought to continue with more of this country's beauty for Shadow Shot Sunday.

There is a wonderful luminosity to the light in Egypt as it reflects off handhewn columns and ripples over sand underfoot. Everthing the sun touches here turns golden, contrasting sharply with the dim inner spaces that sunlight doesn't reach.

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Ancient temples are this photographers's dream, affording perfect studies in sun and shadow...

light against dark.

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The Temple of Horus at Edfu

I became fascinated by patterns formed as sunlight struck the ornate pillars and swept across deeply etched hieroglyphic images.
Kom Ombo Temple, Aswan

Moving along pillared halls was like walking with giants. I marvelled at the height and breadth of the columns, each one precisely carved by the master craftsmen who built these temples many centuries ago.
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Karnak Temple, Luxor

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Kom Ombo Temple, Aswan

As if the decorated columns were not sufficiently beautiful, they are topped by magnificent capitols,carved into breathtaking swirls and flourishes.
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These temples were once painted in brilliant royal hues of blue and red. Occasionally, one lifts one's eyes to spot a majestic falcon on an archway overhead, wings spread wide to protect his pharaoh, feathers still bearing traces of the blazing turquoise and gold that once made it soar.

How astounding it is to stand in these decorated halls built for the glorification of kings and gods!

Hypostyle Hall,

Temple of Luxor,

Luxor

Medinet Habu,

Mortuary Temple of Ramses III,

Luxor

Time and pollution have faded the brilliant colurs and worn gouges into the sandstone, but nothing will ever completerly diminish the magic or the magnificence of Ancient Egypt's treasures...

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Many thanks to 'Hey, Harriet' for hosting this Sunday event! To see more, do drop by her page at...
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http://heyharriet.blogspot.com/
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Egyptian Skies

In Egypt, the sun is unrelenting. With negligible rainfall, few clouds mar the blue perfection of its skies and the heat is a presence you can reach out and touch.

Sunset over the Nile

We visited Egypt at the peak of summer when daytime temperatures were in excess of 40 degrees Celsius, (105 degrees Fahrenheit), and the evenings cooled down only marginally.

The Sphinx
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The capital city, Cairo and its surrounding area, is home to seventeen million people. Roads are a driving nightmare as millions of tightly-packed trucks and cars jostle for space, spreading out in in numerous wide lanes that follow no order we could discern.
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As a result of this density, a blanket of smog shrouds the city always. On the Giza Plateau, we were told this was a good day and we were lucky to have clear skies to see the view.
The Giza Plateau looking across the Nile River to Cairo.
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Of course, stifling heat, traffic madness and the ever-present din of car horns could not detract from the majesty of the Pyramids. It was easy, on that expanse of plateau, to imagine life along the Nile when pharaohs ruled, and these pyramids were built to hold their remains.

The Valley of The Kings lies on the West Bank of the Nile. Ancient Egyptians believed that, as the sun rises in the east and sets in the west, so should man live on the East Bank of the Nile and be buried on the West.

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The skies here were clearer, and the temperature even higher as the valley held tightly onto the sun's heat.

Climbing ever-deeper into the burial tombs of kings, the air shimmering with the heat and humidity generated by the hundreds of tourists that pressed around me, I felt my heart fill with a delight and satisfaction that surpassed any thought of discomfort.

After a lifetime fascination with Egyptology, I was at last following the footsteps of pharaohs...and it was magnificent!
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I’m linking this post to ‘Looking At The Sky Friday’, graciously hosted by CrAzY Working Mom at the link below. Do stop by for skies that will inspire!

http://www.crazyworkingmom.com/

My Irish Uncle

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A hand held out..a
glimpse of other lives I might
one day make my own…
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In a childhood laced with strife, my Uncle Milford laid before me his art books and music so that I might know there was much in life that was beautiful. I have never forgotten the generosity of spirit that promised me a brighter future…
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I'm linking this post to the Thursday Think Tank Prompt at Poets United. For more poetry, please check out their link....
http://poetryblogroll.blogspot.com/
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If you enjoyed Robert's music choice of Leonard Cohen on the Think Tank today, you might like to check out a piece I reposted on my other blog...

http://imaginationlane.blogspot.com/

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Belfast Haiku

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Walls slathered with hate..

a city broken at heart,

and God laid to blame.

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I am posting a second poem for the Thursday Think Tank Prompt at Poets United. Coming from a town that has segregated its citizens by ramming a divisive Peace Line through its heart, I know more than I would like to about walls, and the wrongs so often perpetrated in the name of religion.

To learn more about this Peace Line, you may be interested to read 'A City Divided', posted August 7th, 2010.

http://theimaginativetraveler.blogspot.com/2010/08/city-divided.html

To check out more poems in the Thursday Think Tank, please visit the link below...

.http://poetryblogroll.blogspot.com/.

The Walls of Lincoln Castle

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Aged walls crumble

as earth reclaims its own...we

are but fleeting here…

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This photo of Lincoln Castle was taken during a trip to England in 2007.

While the castle has stood for centuries, it is certain that time will return it to the earth.

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I am linking this post to the Thursday Think Tank Prompt at Poets United. For poems that inspire, do visit the link below. Many thanks to Robert Lloyd for hosting this fine site...

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http://poetryblogroll.blogspot.com/

Looking at Whistler Skies.

This past weekend my husband and I took a longer-than-usual Sunday drive, doing a round trip of four hundred kilometers to play tourist on Whistler Mountain for the day!

If you watched any of the 2010 Winter Olympic Games held this February in Vancouver, you would have seen many televised events from the ski hills and sled runs of Whistler. .

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Getting up to Whistler Mountain was always a challenge. A precarious two-lane road hugged the hillsides too tightly for comfort and the sheer drops on the open side gave
many a passenger pause on the return trip!

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Snow and falling rock closed the road with some frequency…and the endlessly twisting road was never a joy to drive in the dark.

All this changed with the announcement that Vancouver was getting the Olympics. Work began on the new Sea-To-Sky Highway, with its extra lanes and added security features.

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Now it is a joy to drive, although still challenging in the winter, and the scenery is quite stunningly beautiful. It was a wonderfully moody day, weather-wise, when we went, and my camera seemed always to be pointing at the sky, torn as it was between sun and cloud...
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I’m posting my favourites for this week’s ‘Looking At The Sky Friday’, graciously hosted by CrAzY Working Mom at the link below. Do stop by for skies that will inspire!
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http://www.crazyworkingmom.com/
I have also put a few Whistler photos on my main blog, ‘Imagination Lane’, for the ‘Project Genesis’ forum. If you would like to check these pics out or learn more about the eco-friendly ‘Project Genesis’, do follow this link:

http://imaginationlane.blogspot.com/2010/08/project-genesis-iii.html

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