safe travels.
—
“if all the cars in the united states were placed end to end,
it would probably be labor day weekend.”
-doug larson
—
image credit: national toy museum (record for world’s longest line of toy cars)
dear friends, j and b, walk in michigan
getting ready for the big walk.
they leave tomorrow –
i wish them both the best of luck on their journey
and look forward to their tales from along the way
knowing they will return somehow changed forever.
the portuguese way/caminho português
—
The Portuguese Way (Spanish: Camino Portugués, Portuguese: Caminho Português) is the name of the Way of St. James pilgrimage routes starting in Portugal. It begins at Porto or Lisbon. From Porto, pilgrims travel north before entering Spain and passing through Padron on the way to Santiago de Compostela.
The Portuguese way is 227 km long starting in Porto. The way from Porto was historically used by the local populations and by those who arrived in the local ports.
In the contemporary period, most pilgrims are foreigners, and of the total number reaching Galicia between January and October 2017, only 4.27% were Portuguese. Roughly 30,000 pilgrims per year walk this path.
Arrival of queen Elizabeth of Portugal to Santiago de Compostela, after finishing the Portuguese Way around 1325, after the death of her husband, Denis of Portugal.
—
“a path is a prior interpretation
of the best way to traverse a landscape.”
-rebecca solnit, Wanderlust: A History of Walking
—
credits: wikipedia
and so
we went to the sea
and it was
everything
and more
moving sun
calm waters
boats afloat
seals playing
fish tacos and ice cream
on the beach
and
friends
and
stories
and
water
and
shore
alive
with color
and
changing light
laughter is the sun that drives winter from the human face.
– victor hugo
(not me, but very similar)
the Alaskan tree frog
freezes solid
during the winter
including
stopping it’s heart
and then
thaws in the spring
and
hops away!
—
image credit: snakebytestv
what is an antipode?
two places diametrically opposite each other on the earth’s surface.
they are very rare.
what is the shortest route between them?
a straight line through the center of the earth.
i recently saw ‘vivan las antipodas’
released in 2011
directed by russian documentary maker
victor kossakovsky
who had a radical idea
to visit these places
and shoot four antipodal pairs:
argentina/china
spain/new zealand
chile/russia
botswana/hawaii
he filmed it in a way
that literally
turned the world
upside down
and back again
for 108 meandering minutes
i was blown away
by the beauty
of
the landscapes
the people
the animals
the music
the colors
the contrasts
the connections
some things are universal
life
death
money
sex
family
friends
community
survival
love
it was
quietly
stunning
and
it was
dizzying.
under the big top in glen arbor, michigan
there’s always lots of action in all 3 rings
and then,
we relax and look ahead to another adventure tomorrow
Keep the circus going inside you, keep it going,
don’t take anything too seriously,
it’ll all work out in the end.
David Niven
—
animated image credit: bil keane
