Monthly Archives: July 2015

week end break

NINA SIMONE QUOTE #1

Leave a comment

I had spent many years pursuing excellence, because that is what classical music is all about… Now it was dedicated to freedom, and that was far more important.
Nina Simone


Thank you subscribers and readers for taking the time to visit my blog!!

If this is the first time you are visiting the site, welcome to the tales of a woman solo traveler and thoughts to make today the start of something new.

Although I take a break during the weekends, I’ll be back on Monday and would be delighted, in the meantime, if you would look through my previous posts. Perhaps you missed a few or will reread one with a new perspective.There is a list of all the previous posts by title and date.

Since the configuration of the site may differ on your browser, perhaps you have not noticed the tabs which offer some additional information:Why this blog?, Images, How I Began, etc.

You can search certain posts by category: Practical Advice, Thoughts on Oneself, Snapshots, etc.

All of these may be at the very bottom of the posts.

While traveling I may not be posting each day. To be notified when I have written a new post please subscribe-of course its free.
I would be delighted if you would sign up.

I hope you find information and inspiration in the text and images and join me in my quest for growth, wonderment and self-improvement.

Here’s to new discoveries near and far!

Enjoy the days.

TRAVEL TALES

HANOI

Leave a comment

P1010600

Nothing could prepare me for the heat and humidity of Hanoi that summer. I stepped out of the air conditioned taxi and my body was instantly drenched by sweat. My shirt and shorts clung to me as if I were a participant in a wet t-shirt contest. Coming from New York, known for its brutal summers, did not compare to this.

The residents seemed unfazed as they went about their day. Women wore the conical straw hats, Western style long sleeves and pants –the long beautiful flowing traditional attire of Vietnam was far less prevalent. I decided to follow suit.

Purchasing the hat took only a few moments. A grey haired woman was selling them on the street. Despite no common language, the transaction was quick and the price was reasonable. I put the hat on my head. She helped me adjust the soft velveteen ribbon, attached on each side, to fit snuggly and comfortably under my chin. Instantly I felt cooler. I had my own source of shade and the interior space created by the cone allowed the air to circulate.  From that moment I wore my hat everyday and noticed the amused looks of the locals.

When the torrential rains came, as they often did, the water fell atop my hat then dispersed. The rains were warm and the clothes I also purchased were thin and dried surprisingly quickly.

My hat is now poised on a chair.  I rarely wear it or the clothes I bought that summer, although they served me well.

 

THOUGHTS ON ONESELF

WHAT IF…?

Leave a comment

P1050130We do not wear shackles, yet we are constrained, often by fear.

We are afraid of so many, too many things: All the “what if’s?” that keep us from doing something or trying something new.

Somehow the “what if’s?” resounding in our ears are seldom positive.

But what if we discover joy in things we have never done before? What if we discover a new view? What if we come to understand that beginnings are rarely easy, but continuing despite setbacks and hardship is profoundly rewarding and worth the effort? What if many of our fears are unfounded? What if we felt free?

What if…?

THOUGHTS ON ONESELF

THE START TO A DAY

Leave a comment

2015-07-08 11.30.06My eyes are open, yet still seeing images of the dreams I left behind.

Often tenuous, I delicately linger with the remnants before they dissolve. Then, the dreamscapes remain beyond my reach, most days.

Dreams are distractions in my waking hours.

They are accustomed to this routine and usually stay away until night when they are free to roam again.

ENCOUNTERS

KICK SCOOTERS

Leave a comment

IMG_3552I always thought of riding a kick scooter as an unbalanced form of exercise. Everyone favored one leg. The other leg consistently remained motionless, supporting the weight of the body, but doing nothing more. I imagined the rider’s active leg getting muscular and strong, while the other remained slim and weak by comparison.

But there he is. A man, of a certain age, on his scooter, making one kick, two kicks, three, then switching sides to repeat the routine, one kick, two kicks, three with the other leg. He repeats the motion again and then again. He is making his way down the road at a steady speed, using both legs.

“It’s nice to see you using both legs.” I say while riding my bicycle along side him. “I am using both legs,” he replies clearly having misunderstood me. “Yes, exactly.”  I add. He continues, “Of course, otherwise my body isn’t balanced.” I readily agree. He continues, “Twenty years ago, when people saw me, they said these things were for kids. They laughed at me. I made them anyway and started selling them. Now look. Everyone’s riding them.”

I ruefully admitted, ” Not me.”

We chatted a while longer, primarily about the transportation gliding smoothly beside me.

I slowed down to make a right, we said our goodbyes, and the man continued down the road with one kick, two kicks, three.

SNAPSHOTS

SNAPSHOT #8

Leave a comment

20150701_173356

Sometimes a moment lingers and the memory it produces is like a snapshot. 

Summer nights brought lightening bugs and incandescent glows. They were easy to catch, even for a child’s hands cupped just so.
I would wait, until the iridescent creature gently resting on my palm performed its light show. Then, opening my hand, it would linger a moment before entering the night.

Last night, something flew into my home. It was small, but larger than a mosquito and resembled not a moth. And there it was, a lightening bug. I cupped it gently in my hands and awaited the show.

 

week end break

ABRAHAM LINCOLN QUOTE #2

Leave a comment

Give me six hours to chop down a tree and I will spend the first four sharpening the axe.

Abraham Lincoln

Thank you subscribers and readers for taking the time to visit my blog!!

If this is the first time you are visiting the site, welcome to the tales of a woman solo traveler and thoughts to make today the start of something new.

Although I take a break during the weekends, I’ll be back on Monday and would be delighted, in the meantime, if you would look through my previous posts. Perhaps you missed a few or will reread one with a new perspective.There is a list of all the previous posts by title and date.

Since the configuration of the site may differ on your browser, perhaps you have not noticed the tabs which offer some additional information:Why this blog?, Images, How I Began, etc.

You can search certain posts by category: Practical Advice, Thoughts on Oneself, Snapshots, etc.

All of these may be at the very bottom of the posts.

While traveling I may not be posting each day. To be notified when I have written a new post please subscribe-of course its free.
I would be delighted if you would sign up.

I hope you find information and inspiration in the text and images and join me in my quest for growth, wonderment and self-improvement.

Here’s to new discoveries near and far!

Enjoy the days.

week end break

ABRAHAM LINCOLN QUOTE #1

Leave a comment

Those who deny freedom to others deserve it not for themselves.

Abraham Lincoln

Thank you subscribers and readers for taking the time to visit my blog!!

If this is the first time you are visiting the site, welcome to the tales of a woman solo traveler and thoughts to make today the start of something new.

Although I take a break during the weekends, I’ll be back on Monday and would be delighted, in the meantime, if you would look through my previous posts. Perhaps you missed a few or will reread one with a new perspective.There is a list of all the previous posts by title and date.

Since the configuration of the site may differ on your browser, perhaps you have not noticed the tabs which offer some additional information:Why this blog?, Images, How I Began, etc.

You can search certain posts by category: Practical Advice, Thoughts on Oneself, Snapshots, etc.

All of these may be at the very bottom of the posts.

While traveling I may not be posting each day. To be notified when I have written a new post please subscribe-of course its free.
I would be delighted if you would sign up.

I hope you find information and inspiration in the text and images and join me in my quest for growth, wonderment and self-improvement.

Here’s to new discoveries near and far!

Enjoy the days.

TRAVEL TALES

SILENT MOVIES

Leave a comment

20150701_173356“He did it for sure.” “What’s happening. I don’t understand?” “What did she say?” “Hello? How ya doing? I’m in the movies. Where are you?” “No, that’s his wife, the other woman is his mistress. No, not the blonde, the brunette, the brunette.” I have admittedly said, or wanted to say, “shhhh,” while watching a movie in a theatre.

MOMA (The Museum of Modern Art in New York) has an outstanding film selection with daily showings. As a member you can see an endless selection of films for free. (There are some dedicated regulars, who claim a particular seat as their own, despite the open seating policy. I have been directly confronted and acquiesced.)

MOMA was showing a series of short, early silent films. Often they are accompanied with a musical soundtrack, recorded or live, but this particular program had neither. The films were silent, silent films.

The theatre was quiet. The films varied in theme.  One amusing film elicited appropriate laughter.

I was startled to hear “SHHHH,” from a viewer in the audience.

RANDOM THOUGHTS

FRONT ROW

Leave a comment

P1050137The hands dance before me. There is grace to the movements-rehearsed and repeated until the vocabulary is fluid, quick, precise. and efficient. The gestures do not extend a centimeter more than necessary-neither above nor below, neither left nor right.

The performance is only movement. There are no spoken lines.

I am enthralled, engaged in the unexpected show before me.

Does this man, with a gentle stoop and gray hair, working in a Lower East Side deli, know that he has elevated the making of a sandwich, and wrapping it in wax paper, to an art form?