Powwow

I mentioned below that I attended part of the 2007 Plains Indian Museum Powwow. I’ve now posted my set of photos from the Powwow to zenfolio – here.  [They were originally at flickr but I've moved it all to zenfolio as of October 2007.]
I’d never been to a powwow and wasn’t sure what to expect. [...]

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Wyoming, Part 1

I’m writing this in my hotel room in Jackson, late in the afternoon. We head for home tomorrow.
The short version:

I enjoyed my quick stay in Laramie and the drive across Wyoming to Cody.
Cody was surprisingly likable. Once you get past the name, the Buffalo Bill Historical Center is well worth a day of [...]

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Serendipitous artwork

How to create an art work without paint or canvas:
Take your little old Nikon Coolpix 7900 digital camera to the viewing point at Ayers Rock Resort from which you can see Uluru, just before dawn. Set it to the landscape mode. Hold it as still as possible and click as the sun rises.
Oops. You didn’t [...]

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Airports

So, call me a pervert, but I really like airports. Even the crummy ones are interesting to me.
The lovely surprise on my recent trip was the Queenstown airport (ZQN). A new jewel in a gorgeous setting – okay, that’s a cliché but that’s the best I can do here.
I was never so happy to have [...]

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Our Lady

Our Lady of Snows – Love and Mercy, says the sign over the door at 468 Pitt Street, Sydney.
It was closed when I walked by, or I might have dropped in. You can never have too much love or mercy.
They serve free meals, next door but one. Tangible love and [...]

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Souvenirs

The good, the bad, the ugly, the serendipitous and the regrettable, I have these in addition to the usual bits of clothing, jewelry, postcards and such.
From my ANZ-Fiji trip:

Two pair of socks brought from home and indelibly stained by red Outback dirt, at no additional charge
A reusable Woolworths grocery bag; $.99(AU)
Habit of eating more fresh [...]

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Perfectly inept

Had a mental rummage through the lexicon while out walking this morning, from which emerged this assortment: ineptitude, lack of aptitude, thick as two planks, invincible ignorance, eucalypt, monkey puzzle, hopeless.
You can talk to me all day about botany – species, habitats, all of it. And for all the details I retain, you [...]

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Pink beret

You can take this city girl out to the country, and she’ll darn near love getting dusty and sweaty and swatting the black flies – if it’s in the course of seeing new and interesting things. They did, and I did. Even better, a few days later I was delighted to be on [...]

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Fried Okra

There were 44 group members and one tour director on our trip last month – which means there were 45 different journeys occurring in the same time and general space. Without getting into the physics or metaphysics of that fact – which anyway is beyond my competence – I will say that my journey was [...]

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21,956

That is the grand total air mileage I racked up during my trip in May, according to the itinerary from Grand Circle.   Details below the fold if anyone really cares to know.

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Mystery

If you research too much, maybe you won’t get surprises.
You might not turn a corner in a new place and feel your sense of perspective shake.
Your jaw might not drop.
You could forget that life is bigger than your hard drive or your library or your wide-angle lens.
I’m glad I didn’t get around to reading much [...]

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