Sturmfrei

Sturmfrei (noun) Origin: German | shtUrm·frI  The freedom of being alone and having the ability to do what you want.

“Have you ever heard the wonderful silence just before the dawn? Or the quiet and calm just as a storm ends? Or perhaps you know the silence when you haven’t the answer to a question you’ve been asked, or the hush of a country road at night, or the expectant pause of a room full of people when someone is just about to speak, or, most beautiful of all, the moment after the door closes and you’re alone in the whole house? Each one is different, you know, and all very beautiful if you listen carefully.”
― Norton Juster

I have never been bothered with being alone.  I have always been able to entertain myself. I’m very seldom lonely.  I traveled by myself through Cambodia for 6 weeks.  I hit Peru by myself and did a tour through Machu Picchu. I often start and end vacations alone.  Aloneness gives me time to regroup from the world of chaos that I often find myself in.

The traveling has been stupendous.  I was able to spend time taking photos, meet people outside of my normal group, and break out of my comfort zone.  Everything I did was the result of the choices I made. It was fun and I wasn’t bored.

However, the older I get, the more I like to travel and do things with others.  I look back on some pictures of my travels and I do not negate the fun I had on those trips.  I did have fun.  I met wonderful people along the way and even made some life-long friends through my solo journeys.

Sometimes though, after the travels and excitement ended, it was far less interesting going through some of the photos alone.  Me alone. Someone taking a picture of me by myself.  Me taking photos of scenery and people that were interesting in the moment.  Many of those stories still live on. I just cannot explain them adequately to others. Or no matter how deeply these times were explained, others simply did not care about them as they had no relevance to the situation, place, smell, culture.  I had no one to laugh or reminisce with about the wacky ways of the world.

“Never be in thrall to anyone but your own wants and desires, because only you can make yourself happy. Fly your own flag, and be true to it. Your soul is the true captain.”
― Billy Idol

I will always love my time alone. However, the shared memories I have with my family and with my friends are often more rich for the sharing.  The joined memories that pop up in my head, often pop up in the heads of the individuals or groups who shared the events.  Shared memories make you feel like you are still with that person or group.

“Humans, not places, make memories.”
― Ama Ata Aidoo

“The things we do outlast our mortality. The things we do are like monuments that people build to honor heroes after they’ve died. They’re like the pyramids that the Egyptians built to honor the pharaohs. Only instead of being made of stone, they’re made out of the memories people have of you.”
― R.J. Palacio

“We are all alone, born alone, die alone, and—in spite of True Romance magazines—we shall all someday look back on our lives and see that, in spite of our company, we were alone the whole way. I do not say lonely—at least, not all the time—but essentially, and finally, alone. This is what makes your self-respect so important, and I don’t see how you can respect yourself if you must look in the hearts and minds of others for your happiness.”
― Hunter S. Thompson

pratya; cherie; jeena; Mitch; joseyphina; MJ;  reflect; isadora; rad; anita; aviana; muse; Montanaclarks; lostmum

Nefelibata

Nefelibata (noun) Origin: Portuguese | ne·fe·LE·ba·ta One who lives in the clouds of their own imagination; An unconventional person.

YES!  I have always been inspired when I am on a plane and breaking through the clouds into the sunny blue sky.  Decades later, I still feel a sense of wonder that I am actually sitting in the sky.  I always choose an aisle seat because I love the freedom of standing up when I choose to and being able to move around without disturbing anyone.  However, when there is no one next to me I always move to the window for the take off and the landing.  It’s a magical view.  The turbulence through the clouds makes my stomach jump.  Not with fear or anxiety but with … I don’t even know with what. Imagination .. dreams.. wonder?  I don’t know.  I take about 50 photos and then just keep looking at them.  

I mean it’s a sense of adventure.  One day, a long time ago, someone was standing on the earth and staring at the sky.  Maybe pointing out elephants, puppies, witches, etc.  One day, a long time ago, someone had a dream, or a thought, or an idea.  Something that made them want to fly.  There are dreams about flying and about what clouds in dreams mean.

I have followed the clouds to so many great places.  I have lived in my dreams, in my head, and in my imagination.  I used to think it was just me that did this. However, I have talked to some folks who have admitted to me that they also live in their dreams.  I don’t think I will ever stop taking pictures of clouds. Don’t get me wrong.  I love the sun as much as I love clouds.  But I love them each in very different ways.  

I hope it is true that I will always feel this way about clouds. I think they will always amaze and distract me.  Guide me. Envelope me.  Push me forward.  They make me dance in the rain and chase the sun. They make me feel like I felt when I was a little girl laying down in the fresh cut grass behind my house.  They remind me of lazy summer days and crazy high energy storms.  I love clouds.

“Clouds come floating into my life, no longer to carry rain or usher storm, but to add color to my sunset sky.”  ― Rabindranath Tagore

“Clouds in the sky very much resembles the thoughts in our minds! Both changes perpetually from one second to another!”  – Mehmet Murat ildan

“I’m a dreamer. I have to dream and reach for the stars, and if I miss a star then I grab a handful of clouds.”   ~Mike Tyson
“For a second I was almost jealous of the clouds.”  -Kamila Shamsie

Ok.. a dreamy break.  Or a break from the dreaminess of clouds.  A bit of a nightmare cloud picture.  I am not sure if these are Parawixia Bistriata spiders, but when you are walking under them does it matter?

The Parawixia Bistriata spiders have actually created such a massive intertwined web that it appears as if they’re raining down from the sky because they’ve taken over so much of the air space and it looks as if they’re floating down. … They build these cloud-sized spiderwebs which trap prey in the air.

“When you’re a kid, you lay in the grass and watch the clouds going over, and you literally don’t have a thought in your mind. It’s purely meditation, and we lose that.”  ~ Dick Van Dyke

“It is better to have your head in the clouds, and know where you are… than to breathe the clearer atmosphere below them, and think that you are in paradise.   ~Henry David Thoreau

“Behind every cloud is another cloud.”   ~-Judy Garland

“I don’t know what my formula is. I only know I like my characters to walk in clouds. I like a little bit of the fairy tale. Let others photograph the ugliness of the world. I don’t want to distress people.”  ~ Leo McCarey

“Aren’t the clouds beautiful? They look like big balls of cotton… I could just lie here all day, and watch them drift by… If you use your imagination, you can see lots of things in the cloud formations… What do you think you see, Linus?”
“Well, those clouds up there look like the map of the British Honduras on the Caribbean… That cloud up there looks a little like the profile of Thomas Eakins, the famous painter and sculptor… And that group of clouds over there gives me the impression of the stoning of Stephen… I can see the apostle Paul standing there to one side…”
“Uh huh… That’s very good… What do you see in the clouds, Charlie Brown?”
“Well, I was going to say I saw a ducky and a horsie, but I changed my mind!”
― Charles M. Schulz, The Complete Peanuts, Vol. 5: 1959-1960

Clouds – Dreams – Immagination:  Marina; Rad; Ambevert; Marie; Suzette; Eliza; ari; Trent; themouse; GS; Chen; LeDrakeNoir; phillip; Jeremy; noriega; Opher; still; sadje; mindfills; Timothy

Smultroställe

Smultroställe (n.) – Origin: Swedish – Definition: A special place discovered, treasured, returned to for solace and relaxation; a personal idyll free from stress and sadness.

In every conceivable manner, the family is link to our past, bridge to our future.  ~Alex Haley

When I first read the word – Smultroställe – I thought to myself, “This word means family.”  OK that’s a lie.

When I first read the word – Smultroställe – I thought to myself, “What the heck is a smult-tro-sally”.  So i looked it up and thought to myself, “To me, this word actually means happy place”  The second thing I thought to myself was, “How in the heck do you pronounce this word?”

In complete transparency, I still do not know how to pronounce it, but I can unequivocally state that my smultroställe is not just my family but it is my every person in my world who has existed in my happy place.  Every person who has taken the time to reduce the daily drama and make me laugh.  It is every person who has laughed with me and not at me. (Even when they ARE sometimes laughing at me.)  It is every person who has chosen to spend time with me to create the millions of happy memories that I currently own.  The memories that I will have and cherish until the day I die. The happy memories that I will have and carry with me until I go beyond death.  Maybe to infinity and beyond.  My smultroställe is YOU.

I found my happy place the minute I saw you.  ~Sherrilyn Kenyon

To my million smultroställes.  Come on, you know who you are!

The most beautiful things are not associated with money; they are memories and moments. If you don’t celebrate those, they can pass you by. ~Alek Wek

I am a collection of thoughts and memories and likes and dislikes. I am the things that have happened to me and the sum of everything I’ve ever done. I am the clothes I wear on my back. I am every place and every person and every object I have ever come across. I am a bag of bones stuck to a very large rock spinning a thousand miles an hour.  ~Macaulay Culkin

When you finally discover your happy place, your soul will be more easily protected from all the darkness around.  ~Christine E. Szymanski

I collect memories. I look for opportunities to try new things, go to new places, and meet new people all the time.   ~Marcel Wanders

Happy places and memories:  Inspired; Suzy; Keyne; candice; Roth; kk; trent; Anita; carol; Rebecca;  ~MM; Kait; Pete; Shweta; Smelly; Rad; Paean

Selcouth

Selcouth (adj.) – Origin: English – Definition: Unfamiliar, rare, strange, and yet marvelous.

Catatumbo, Venezuela

2010-2012 I worked in Venezuela. It was my first posting and my experiences there, changed my life.  In fairness, every place that I have lived outside of the U.S. has changed my life.  However, Venezuela has left a selcouth impression on my soul.  The people and their love of their country.  The beauty and the rare opportunities that were made available to me during my time there.  I took a short trip to the Catatumbo river near Lake Maracaibo.

What causes Catatumbo Lightning in Venezuela?

Catatumbo lightning is an atmospheric phenomenon in Venezuela. It occurs only over the mouth of the Catatumbo River where it empties into Lake Maracaibo. It originates from a mass of storm clouds over nearby mountains, and occurs during 140 to 160 nights a year, 10 hours per day and up to 280 times per hour.

I did not have a good enough camera to capture the lightning show.  So the above picture is a stock photo on Catatumbo. Even that does not capture how amazing and cool that was.

Even more amazing was the floating houses near where we stayed.  Like my own children rode bikes in our neighborhood, these kids had tubs, boat/cars and would paddle to their friend’s houses.  The people were amazing and friendly. I was amazed at the color, the beauty, the smiles of the children and adults.  It was truly my favorite place to work and live in my current job.

It’s a place I will never forget.  I hope that one day Venezuela will be returned to the people who love and miss their country.  I frequently think of Venezuela and my time there and I usually have a bittersweet feeling of happiness that I could have been there when I was mixed with sadness that it does not appear to be a place I will be able to revisit any time soon.

Waiting is painful. Forgetting is painful. But not knowing which to do is the worst kind of suffering. ~Paulo Coelho

Venezuela: Lea; Barbara; Austin; Owens; Max; mic; Tom; Cole; Sara; Eli; Liam; Isaiah

Thalassophile

Thalassophile (noun) Origin: Greek  Someone who loves the sea, ocean; A lover of the ocean.

I was in the Navy for 21 years.  I lived on a ship for 12 months.  My dream has been to sail across the ocean on a sailboat.  I have not lived out that dream (only thing on my bucket list) but I still feel like one day I might.

I read the book “Unlikely Passages” by Palley and it only invigorated that dream of sailing.  I love water in general. But I love the sea most of all.

Unlikely Passages Paperback – 

Unlikely Passage is a sailor’s manifesto. Palley gave up a successfull career as an art dealer while in his late 50s and embraced retirement with a vengeance. He sailed away in his ship Unlikely and circled the globe. In doing so, he created his own universe-a small boat in a large ocean. Through a series of humorous anecdotes and illustrations, insightful observations, and practical information, Palley expounds his unique sailing philosophy.

sailboats on a beautifully lit waterway

“The heart of man is very much like the sea, it has its storms, it has its tides and in its depths it has its pearls too”    ~ Vincent van Gogh, The Letters of Vincent van Gogh

boats in the distance Australia 2005

“To reach a port we must set sail. Sail, not tie at anchor. Sail, not drift.”  ~ Franklin D. Roosevelt

“The sea is emotion incarnate. It loves, hates, and weeps. It defies all attempts to capture it with words and rejects all shackles. No matter what you say about it, there is always that which you can’t.”  ~ Christopher Paolini

Curacao Ocean View at Night

  “We know only too well that what we are doing is nothing more than a drop in the ocean. But if the drop were not there, the ocean would be missing something.”  ~Mother Teresa

“Individually, we are one drop. Together, we are an ocean.”            ~Ryunosuke Satoro

Haute Pink Photography – Seattle Alki Beach

“There’s nothing more beautiful than the way the ocean refuses to stop kissing the shoreline, no matter how many times it’s sent away.”  ~Sarah Kay

Daughters and grandbabies on Alki Beach in Seattle.. Liquid city

Sea:  Islandtraveler; Jeff; Beach; Marina; John; Laleh; masgautsen; citysonnet; Paul