JOY-FULL-NESS: Discovering Joy in Digestion and Ditty’s

There are things that stay with you you’d rather forget. There are things you’d rather remember that you forget. Then there are things you recall leaving you wonder why on earth you have. Popping up somewhere from my lurking, murky, otherwise heavily armoured subconscious, is a kitsch, highly cringeworthy, Sunday school song falling into the category of memories we’d rather forget, but somehow seem to want to stick around. “I've got the joy, joy, joy, joyDown in my heart (where?)Down in my heart (where?)Down in my…

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Holy Sloot

The Netherlands -A modern day Atlantis, where Mulga Bill meets Willy Wonka. Bikes, sweets and self- confidence pile on top of dykes and delicacies while locks and levees protect this wet corner of the world from a sinking wet demise. Renowned for its liberal views, masochistic artists, boys with fingers in dikes, longstanding trading smarts, Ajax Amsterdam and the 17th century Golden Age; the country’s love of innovation, progression and unorthodoxy is refreshing. Stoic signs of Calvinism, reformational rebellion, protection of liberal freedoms and irreverent humour…

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IMPRESSED

Bold expressions. Overt undertones. Contrasting canvasses. An arresting awareness of things optically, orally and aromatically atypical. An absorption of, immersion and participation in, the manifold encounters of cultural consonance and dissonance. I’m pressed to consider the new I’m pressed to adopt the unfamiliar I’m pressed to adjust periphery I’m pressed to admire I’m pressed to accept and embrace I’m pressed to understand I’m pressed to listen astutely I’m pressed to look deeper I’m pressed to learn richly I’m pressed to laugh I’m pressed to enjoy immeasurably…

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Schnitzel with Noodles

The soothing symphony of cowbells settle in the soul, The crisp sharp lines of mountain peaks deliver a sense of whole. Crystal lakes like diamonds shine glaciers ancient and old, Dazzling days and freezing nights the best of warm and cold. Herds in celebration mark a season turned, As shepherds drive their cattle down a winter break they’ve earned. Festivities of traditional dress, brezen and beer daze, A livelihood from cheese and milk of Hirten and Berg ‘Käs’. Balconies billowing red geraniums bright offset against fields…

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Rhode to Riches

The I-95 takes us out of NYC via New Jersey on a drive that crosses 5 States in one day. New Jersey, Connecticut, Rhode Island, Massachusetts and New Hampshire. A drive through heavy industry; old manufacturing towns reformed, shaking old images, creating new economies, right through to quaint oceanside Newport. Where the history of commerce and trading runs deep, from slaves, to cargo and in later years gladiatorial yacht racing trophies. Richness runs wide in Newport Rhode Island. A town where opportunity and beauty have intertwined for…

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Two Little Vowels

  Trail and trial. Five exact same letters. Try saying them quickly multiple times over with a few additional words for a good tongue twister. A mere reversal of two vowels changes the entire context of expression, nuance of the communication or implication of the active out- workings of each noun. Def. Trail: a beaten path through rough country such as a forest. A route planned or followed for a particular purpose. Def. Trial: a test of the performance, qualities, or suitability of someone or something.…

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Wanderlust Wonderings

(A small detour from normal entries as we explore wider horizons). Landing in Denver, it was obvious this vacation was going to be huge. So huge. Better than you can imagine huge. The best vacation ever. Just huge. Actually, it was clearly going to rock, totally rock. Boulder Colorado, Rocky Mountains, Peak to Peak (rocks), Colorado Monument (more rock), The Arches National park; even more rock. Totally rocking in the first few days. Rolling into Boulder, a university town bustling with parents and students moving all…

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Andante

A walking group generally consists of the leader and the “whip”. Destinations are clear, expectations set, orientation established and navigation routes devised. (Crutches obviously ditched!). There’s a confident sense of excitement, underpinned with a tentative curiosity and introspection as to the trail, its requirements, and one’s own capacity to meet the demands of the territory, distance and pace. The steady rhythm of footsteps settle like a metronome, shuffling between andantino and allegro, while kilometres are clocked and collective identity shared and shaped. Stories are traded, souls…

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VIVE LA VIE

Vive la Vie -  ‘Life is wonderful’ is what it says on the card my friend has sent me. Is it a challenge? Perhaps an affirmation? In any case intentional and deliberate.  It’s a statement. No room for debate. Emphatic and unreserved. There are no grey undertones. An allusion and alluring to the richness of blessing, hope and colour. Colour is “the property possessed by an object of producing different sensations on the eye as a result of the way it reflects or emits light”. Wonder and…

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