the earth ink

Hawaii has been a wonderful lab for practicing photography. With afternoon rainshowers, it is easy to test out my camera's macro capabilities on raindrops. Just as in a wine glass, a raindrop can reflect an image upside down. This image was carefully arranged to show the reflection of a palm tree in a dangling drop of precipitation.

Rome holds so many treasures that I was amazed at how busy I kept during the full three days I spent in the city. While wandering around the town on foot, I found several places where I could to sit with my journal for hours. The Pantheon with a cup of gelato, the Spanish Steps for sunset and a glass of wine, and the Trevi Fountain with a cappucino. Each locale oozed with Italian ambiance. Perhaps a little full of the tourist types, these locations also offer plenty of opportunities to people watch.  Even on this rainy day, I found joy in colourful umbrellas and the detail in the fountain's sculptures.

I recall looking through a magazine and reading about Petra for the first time. Fascinated by the early 1800s rediscovery of the lost and inaccessible city and enamored by the red stones, I remember thinking that there would never be a reason for me to venture deep within the country of Jordan . And, I could never imagine that there would be a person who would be interested in traveling to see this UNESCO World Heritage site with me. Several years later, I stood in the middle of the city of red stone absolutely amazed at the grandeur of the ancient city of Petra and in disbelief that I stood in the midst of the photos that I marveled at in that magazine article. All that, and I had a reacquainted high school friend to travel with! Jordan remains one of the most fascinating countries that I have visited. The people were hospitable and friendly despite an occasional Arabic-English language barrier. The country is home to fascinating historical sites...

One of the most amazing cross-country trips was by third class train from Bangkok to Aranyaprathet. Leaving early in the morning, I heard the creaks and groans of the tracks being manually changed and lights flipped one way or the other to guide our line of vintage rail cars out of the city limits. Locals were up already, in the dark, making food for their carts for the day. Smells were potent. As the sun came up, we watched the rice paddies fly by and followed passengers as they boarded the train and departed at their stops. Tourists, of course, were on the train for the long haul; all six hours of the journey toward Cambodia. However, many of the locals used this train as their place of business; selling fruits and vegetables, meals of rice and meat on a stick, and breads and beverages. This woman alighted the train and took the track back toward her destination. Her orange clothes and baskets caught my eye. I was impressed that this is part of real rural life in Thailand.

I am a non-buddhist. So walking through Wat Pho was a far less religious experience than those who dropped their coins in the pots behind the world's largest reclining buddha, but no less curious. This Wat complex houses an astounding number of buddha figures. Away from the main temple, the grounds were sparsely toured and I had a difficult time imagining how their could be a need for so many rooms, walkways, and shrines full of so many buddhas. While meandering through the maze of towers and courtyards, I had plenty of opportunity to capture images of more sculptures and statues than I will ever know what to do with. Instead of finding the religious meaning in the statues, I found the art (though rather excessive and opulent) in my photos and learned a little more about the rituals of another belief system.

My annual personal project is a Christmas card. Every year my address list seems to get a little longer and every year the card is something a little bit different from the last - and from any other greeting anyone gets in the mail. I avoid writing long paragraphs to sum up the year. Instead, I use photography and graphic design to illustrate some of the highlights. This year, I chose to develop a 'passport of 2012.' I carefully blended the photos and places I had been together for each page and integrated a verse (James 1:16-18) into the design. I personalized the front of the passport with some Hawaiian holiday greetings and colorful splashy cutout photos. Inside, I placed scans of the country stamps I obtained in 2012 over photo collages of special memories. True to a passport, I rounded the corners of each little booklet and twisted a ply of yellow and red thread before tying it around the crease giving it an stitched effect along the binding. I also made envelopes...

Alone, I rarely venture too far at night. This particular evening, I found myself  following my path back to my hotel after a late afternoon tour of the Anne Frank House in Amsterdam. I was  waylaid into the evening  due to an annual holiday gathering of the Netherlands Parliament near the Swissotel  where I stayed for my last night on a long overseas trip. I had hoped to catch a glimpse of the Queen, but later found that they had unfurled the red carpet at the back entrance to the building in Dam Square.  After the later-than-planned, but  provocative  visit to Anne Frank's home, I was in a hurry through the dark streets and winter cold to return to the hotel and warm up, but I found myself captivated by the warmth of lights along the canals and the matte effect of thin ice forming over the water. So, I walked a bit slower, and patiently balanced my camera on a railing to capture a still image of the evening glow.