Time is what prevents everything from happening at once. – John Archibald Wheeler.


Unfortunately, the clock is ticking, the hours are going by. The past increases, the future recedes. Possibilities decreasing, regrets mounting.  ~~Haruki Murakami

To be clear, this is not a quote that describes my life.  For the most part, I grab the possibilities as they fly by and I have very few regrets.  I accept what I cannot do, because I understand I cannot do everything and really try hard to do everything that I can do to the best of my ability.
It is hard to believe that I have been in Malabo, Equatorial Guinea for a month.  Time is moving very quickly.  I do love it when time goes fast, even when I am trying to slow down.  I have a feeling though that as fast as my time goes here, at times it will feel like time is passing very, very slowly. It’s a small island with not a lot of modern amenities.
However, that does not bother me and as a matter of fact, I believe that this will give me some great opportunities to do some of the things that I keep putting off.  Art, blogging, writing, cooking, and working on personal health goals always seem to take a back seat to other more important (less important) work taskings and life in general.  I am super, excited about the new possibilities that will no longer fly by but start drifting by slow enough for me to catch them.  To catch them, ponder them, work on them, and re-imagine them.
Round the world I go as my world goes round.. round.. round… still a little girl in a big, big world.. that seems to get just a little smaller each year.
Little tour round my neighborhood.  Hope you enjoy!
More fun posts to read… if you only had the time.  Thanks for stopping by.
Memories, flashchallenges, colorful, paradise, 6words, vibrant,  round, pommepal,  Seating, retired, Round | cornishkylie,  It’s not what you look at that matters, it’s what you see – Thoreau, Round (the Sushi Bar) | AngelineM’s Blog, Here & Abroad, Ese’ s Voice, being mrscarmichael, Patchwork Ponderings, Jaspa’s Journal, Albatz Travel Adventures, Travel Monkey, nowathome,  maxidiehexi, That Montreal Girl, Chronicles of Illusions, Chronicles of Illusions, Wind Against Current, ALMOST ITALIAN, Healthcare Updates, Kat Pegi Mana, Witrian’s Photofolio, Beyond the Brush, Memories are made of this, fathersunny, Thirdperson, Four Deer Oak, världen vackrare, 2far2shout, beyondpaisley, Geophilia Photography,  @vannilla, Tish Farrell,  Foto Challenge,  decocraftsdigicrafts, Albatz Travel Adventures, The Quotidian Hudson,  Meg Travels,  Northwest Frame of Mind, | The Rider, Babsje Heron, WoollyMuses, Shoot ‘N Go, Isadora Art and PhotographyLooknWalk,  WordsVisual, conversation is an engine, Stephen Kelly Creative, thechangingpalette, Taking a Deep Breath,  The Quotidian Hudson,  Pretty Packed,  Travel with Intent,  Jaspa’s Journal,  Photography Journal Blog, The Day After , | Cee’s Photography, (elleturner4), Compass Photography, Canoe Communications, The World Is a Book…, Sunrise Adventures,  Le Drake Noir,  Rainbow Bakery, Living Life Almost Gracefully,  Completely Disappear, | never nothing going on, Taking One Day At A Time, The Wanderlust Gene, anotherdayinparadise, The Beauty Along the Road, Jaspa’s Journal,  Del’s other stuff…, Getting the Picture, Across the Bored

I’m on top of the world looking down on….


I feel like I’m on top of the world. Honestly, I feel like I’ve climbed a very giant mountain, and I’m just standing right on top with my arms wide open and breathing rarified air.  Shania Twain

I have had many opportunities to climb to the top of things (or fly over if the climb is beyond my limits.  I recently took my first helicopter ride in South Africa and climbed all over Table Mountain.  I hope you enjoy.

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Daily Post Atop Challenge – Some of my favorites

Trivial Mind, Starlight, mama, OHM, At home, witty, bend, Albina, hudson , intent, jaspas, changing, geriatrix, Cees, Lago, ladylee, wonderful, thirdperson

 

Old Town Square – Prague


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Old Town Prague.  The square was beautiful, crowded, noisy, and full of a variety of surprises.  Just like a square should be.  Sun, food, entertainers, and tons of bubbles.  I hope you enjoy.

 

Square x100 @  Travel Theme Challenge: Square!

Travel Theme – SquareSquare – WoollyMusesThe life of a 40 something few words-uncountable colorsInteresting Square | HIP Photography pdjpixTravelrat’s TravelsJulie Powell – Photographer & Graphic ArtistThe Quotidian HudsonThe Quotidian HudsonLe Drake Noir;

 

 

Reflections of myself in others


When someone smiles at me, I realize that I am probably smiling at them. One of my highest priorities in life is to see people smile back at me.

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Only when I am surrounded by my sisters and my daughters can I truly be myself. When I watch them, I am watching myself.  When I see them laugh, cry, be goofy, be angry, I am seeing a modified reflection of myself. I am a part of them and they are all every part of me.  Even when I am not with them, they are with me.

“She was beautiful, but not like those girls in the magazines. She was beautiful, for the way she thought. She was beautiful, for the sparkle in her eyes when she talked about something she loved. She was beautiful, for her ability to make other people smile, even if she was sad. No, she wasn’t beautiful for something as temporary as her looks. She was beautiful, deep down to her soul. She is beautiful.”
― F. Scott Fitzgerald

Fun with friends is when I am also most myself.  Smiling at others to have others smile back at me is what makes me feel most myself.

“This life is for loving, sharing, learning, smiling, caring, forgiving, laughing, hugging, helping, dancing, wondering, healing, and even more loving. I choose to live life this way. I want to live my life in such a way that when I get out of bed in the morning, the devil says, ‘aw shit, he’s up!”

― Steve MaraboliUnapologetically You: Reflections on Life and the Human Experience

“Though we travel the world over to find the beautiful, we must carry it with us or we find it not.”
― Ralph Waldo Emerson

Other Blogs of Self

Jodhbai’s Palace India


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A garden like feel in a ancient palace in Fatehpur Sikri, India.  Because the Taj was closed on Friday we decided to stop in at a very impressive palace.  It was definitely a worthwhile stop.  However, first a very brief and twisted digression to this great trip.

It was so very hot outside and as you will see in this post and a few of my other posts how many women here dress.  They wear amazing, lovely, decorative, vibrant and colorful clothing. It’s usually draped around their bodies in a beautiful fashion as well.

Now the twist!!! Imagine wearing one of the above outfits and trying to climb stairs and cross uneven ground and wrestle children from one place to another.  I’m not lying, people were falling left and right. Not just the women in the dresses either. Every time it happened my stomach would lurch.  In my life i have never witnessed such a twisted reaction to someone else’s bad luck than I did on this incredibly hot day.  As my group began to cross one of the courtyards, one of these lovely ladies became tangled in her dress and fell in such a way she could not even reach her hands out to catch herself.  We were over 20 feet away and actually heard her hit the ground.  As we gasped in shock we heard an entire family hysterically cackling, looking a the woman and pointing at her.  Yeah, laughing at her unfortunate situation. As the fallen woman’s family helped her up and over into the shade. It was obvious she was very shaken and very believable that she might have suffered a concussion. Still they laughed and pointed.  Only after one of the laughing hyenas saw me snap this picture and look disgustedly at her entire family did she have the decency to stop laughing.  Sadly her family did not. For some reason the sad plight of another was just one more thing to laugh about.  Twisted right?

Schadenfreude (/ˈʃɑːdənfrɔɪdə/; German: [ˈʃaːdənˌfʁɔʏdə] ( listen)) is pleasure derived from the misfortunes of others.[1] This word is taken from the German language. The literal English translation is 'Harm-Joy'. It is the feeling of joy or pleasure when one sees another fail or suffer misfortune.

Schadenfreude (/ˈʃɑːdənfrɔɪdə/; German: [ˈʃaːdənˌfʁɔʏdə] ( listen)) is twisted pleasure derived from the misfortunes of others.[1] This word is taken from the German language. The literal English translation is ‘Harm-Joy’. It is the feeling of joy or pleasure when one sees another fail or suffer misfortune.

Enough of that and back onto the multitude of other good twists and turns along with a variety of design styles incorporated into this palace that was allegedly built to house several members of the imperial harem.  Outside of the actual palace grounds you can see the remains of other buildings that might have been built as servant’s quarters or for additional rooms for an ever expanding harem.

The apparent significance of this particular palace is that its design included both Hindu and Islamic art which is usually completely opposite in style and formation.  All I know is that it was another huge endeavor built hundreds of years ago and something that has lasted in impressiveness and grandeur for several centuries and took it seriously took my breath away.

Other blogs that helped to inspire this one.  Check em out.

  1. Decoration | Where’s my backpack?
  2. Twist | Where’s my backpack?
  3. Decoration- travel themed photo challenge | Third Person Travel
  4. Twist | Black Panty Salvation
  5. Travel Theme: Twist | Geophilia Photography
  6. Decoration… Ailsa’s WTT | Ouch!! My back hurts!!
  7. Travel Theme/Wheres my Backpack: Decoration | 2far2shout
  8. Travel Theme: Decoration | Across the Bored
  9. Travel Theme: Twist | Jinan Daily Photo
  10. Pompeii | Tim Wolverson – Photography
  11. Travel theme: Twist | Oh, the Places We See . . .
  12. Travel theme: Decoration | Stefano Scheda
  13. Travel theme: twist. | readsbyredriverbanks
  14. Travel Theme: Twists | Neighborhood Travels
  15. Plain decorated | Le Drake Noir
  16. The Dementor Tree | Unique Art Chic
  17. Travel Theme: Decoration | Wind Against Current
  18. Travel Theme-Twist | WoollyMuses
  19. The Monuments of Glencolumbkille, Ireland | Jaspa’s Journal
  20. Travel theme: Decoration | So where’s the snow?
  21. travel theme: decoration | Del’s other stuff…
  22. Travel Theme: Decoration | Ese’ s Voice
  23. Travel theme: Decoration | nowathome
  24. Twist – Ailsa’s WTT | Ouch!! My back hurts!!
  25. Travel Theme: Decoration | My Lens and Universe
  26. Zanzibar: time’s twists and turns | Tish Farrell
  27. Twist in the Sky for a Happy Fourth of July! | Wind Against Current
  28. Travel theme: Twist « Sasieology
  29. What Not To Do With Your Valuables When Traveling | Travel Tales of Life
  30. Travel Theme: Twist – Braided Rivers | Miscellaneous Eclectica