Tuesday, October 24, 2006

from china to afghanistan...




...duchess loved to travel. She also loved to shop, in fact, if the truth be known, she was a bit of a shopaholic. So, combining the two was as natural as breathing. The further away, the better and more exotic the wares. Her heart beat fast as she crossed the red bridge and entered the red gates of china. She pressed her hands together in the shape of dove-wings and raised them to the temple of the gold buddha. She bought fat red buddha candles and soaps - a wide variety of chinese bowls, dishes and plates, adorned with ornate colours, designs and patterns - ginko plants, ginseng incense, pills, tablets and tea - bamboo shoots, leaves and furnishings. She walked through the exit window and followed the chinese wall into japan. The sight of mount fuji quite took her breath away, lying there as it did, basking in glory, regally reflected in the lake, it's snowcapped peak glowing pink in the rising and setting sun. Here, she bought delicate red flowers, with petals as fine as calligraphic brushstrokes against the air - branches of pink orange blossom - miniature bonsai trees for small gardens and windows. Then, through burma, cambodia and vietnam, where she purchased fine cloth and jewels, semi-precious stones and precious, she made her way via india, where she bought multi-coloured pots, to afghanistan. She was immediately struck by the stark beauty of the place and it's inhabitants, reflected in the bold green gaze of it's women. In contrast, the finely intricate patterns of gold and blue mosaics, covering the ceilings and walls of the mosques, reflected the millions of faithful, who bowed prostrate on the ground and prayed in quiet reflection before their holy shrine. She bought mosaics, in every shade, shape and size, for the bathrooms of the wealthy west...
















a bridge too far...





...duchess had crossed many a bridge in her lifetime..."many rivers to cro..o..oss"... she sang, every time she was faced with a new challenge. Reggæ music always made her feel good...

the red room...

..."one day," duchess always said, "I will live in a red room and have a sweeping red staircase, which I will not sweep as there will be others to do the sweeping." She said this, looking meaningfully at marmaduke...

a cross to bear...










..."we all have our crosses to bear," the duchess was fond of saying. She believed we all had our guardian angels, but was thinking of the poor people in far-away places, like guatamala and morocco. She also believed that there was a window of hope in every situation...

and some more amazing sites...squares...





...duchess believed that even if you felt like a round peg in a square hole, no matter where you found yourself or however blue you felt, if it be in some inner sanctum with a blue ceiling, or some inner-city courtyard, if you just looked up, you would find that the sky was blue and the clouds still drifting by...

Monday, October 23, 2006

and amazing sites...circles



...and there were some amazing sites to be seen. Duchess had a fondness for circles. She found them to be soothing to the eye. The perfect roundness and symmetry. She especially loved spirals. She imagined this having something to do with her love for fractals. They reminded her of the chameleons from her past in africa. She imagined this was why she had always known she would one day live in a lighthouse. The spiral stairs were the answer to her dreams...