Don't...

Don't let your fears win.

Don't overthink things.

Don't lose hope.

Don't let the world diminish you.

Don't forget to make memories.

Don't forget to give of your soul.

Don't judge.

Don't criticize what you don't understand.

Don't be afraid to start over.

Don't let someone else create your world. It will always be too small.

Don't let the opinion of others consume you.

Don't settle for mediocre.

Don't look at the exterior. A poor coat can hide a rich heart.

Don't give up.

Don't sell out.

Don't do anything today that will darken tomorrow.

Don't take everything so seriously.

And

Don't expect mangoes when you plant papayas.

Something throbs, and gleams...

"I have always loved the desert. One sits down on a desert sand dune, sees nothing, hears nothing. Yet through the silence something throbs, and gleams..."

- Antoine de Saint-Exupery

The Little Prince

The voice of the salt

" I shivered in those solitudes

when I heard the voice of the salt

in the desert."

- Pablo Neruda

Pay attention

"What did you say, Gram? About there being no church out here?" 

"I said that the sky was the roof of my cathedral and the desert was its floor and any time I paid attention, I could feel a Higher Power all around me."

- Terry Farley

Blue Wings

The surrounding hullabaloo

"I felt very still and empty, the way the eye of a tornado must feel, moving dully along in the middle of the surrounding hullabaloo."

- Sylvia Plath

The Bell Jar

Let's be romantic

"Let's be romantic and dance in the rain.  I'll prove my feelings for you by bringing an umbrella, because I'm drowning in my love for you."

- Jarod Kintz

This Book is Not FOR SALE

Bewildered

"When you're lost in those woods, it sometimes takes you a while to realize that you are lost.  For the longest time, you can convince yourself that you've just wandered off the path, that you'll find your way back to the trailhead any moment now.  Then night falls again and again, and you still have no idea where you are, and it's time to admit that you have bewildered yourself so far off the path that you don't even know from which direction the sun rises anymore."

- Elizabeth Gilbert

Weary eyes

In October 2015, we took a camping trip to Spitzkoppe, one of the most picturesque and beautiful places in Namibia.  We spent an unforgettable evening under the stars.  On our way back, I couldn't help noticing how thin the cattle alongside the road were.  

In this past week, about 20mm of rain fell in the region, turning the arid landscape into a lush landscape with waterfalls and rock pools.  How I wish I could be there to see it!  I hope to see these ladies nourished and healthy and not looking so desperately thin.  In this photo, even their eyes seamed weary and tired.  What a difference the rain makes, and what a true blessing it is for all nature and creatures.  

I haven't had enough desert yet

"Shall I run back into the desert... and stay there until the devil has passed out of me and I am fit to meet humankind again without driving it to despair at the first look?  I haven't had enough desert yet."

- Saul Bellow

Henderson the Rain King

Freedom

"In the desert I had found a freedom unattainable in civilization;

a life unhampered by possessions,

since everything that was not a necessity was an encumbrance.

I had found too, a comradeship inherent in the circumstances,

and the belief that tranquility was to be found there."

-Wilfred Thesiger

Stories

"You have no control over how your story begins or ends. But by now, you should know that all things have an ending. Every spark returns to darkness. Every sound returns to silence. Every flower returns to sleep with the earth. The journey of the sun and moon is predictable. But yours, is your ultimate art."

- Suzy Kassem

Rise Up and Salute the Sun: The Writings of Suzy Kassem

Consolationis Philosophiae

"Nothing is miserable unless you think it so;

conversely,

every lot is happy if you are content with it."

- Ancius Manlius Severinus Boethius

Consolationis Philosophiae

This photograph was taken on a very windy day in the dune belt between Walvis Bay and Swakopmund, Namibia.  A curious and unusual scene in that a leaking pipeline caused a wild green patch of bamboo to shoot up in a normally desolate area with little vegetation.  In front, you can see white deposits of salt crystals and in the back, the magnificent dunes of the Namib.  

So much to say

Looking out the window

All day long, your head busy

Soul restless

Feeling completely discontent

So much to say...

But try to explain

Or try to write it down 

All of it's just gone.

Maybe that's it then; 

Nothing to say.

Close

"Stay close to anything

that makes you glad 

you are alive."

-Hafiz

Rain

Last night it rained in the desert.  A very unusual phenomena.  The rain that fell last night were for us, a blessing.  We had just stepped outside the restaurant and were greeted by this delightful fresh soft shower of rain walking back to our car and we just soaked it in.  The smell of fallen rain is a most unforgettable smell and awakens senses.  We haven't experienced rain for such a long time and it was a reminder of home's rainy days.  It brought back many happy memories and we were feeling quite nostalgic.  It's so true - you don't know what you have until it's taken from you.  May we never take what we have for granted...

The photo is a side view of Rossing Mountain.  Most of the rain that fell last night were in this region.  Can't wait for the greenery to shoot up!

   

Life's journey

"Life is a journey

that must be traveled

no matter

how bad the road or accommodation"

Never let a stumble in the road be the end of your journey...

Contrasts

"The mass of men lead lives of quiet desperation.

What is called resignation is confirmed desperation."

Henry David Thoreau

Walden

Broken Beauty

"We had shipwrecks in

our hearts

they wore torn-down sails

and sea-swept decks,

they were broken beauty,

but they lay between the fierce tides of our heartbeats

caught in the anchors 

that hid in each breath."  

Ariana

Why sing?

Majestic Flight

"In order to see birds

one must become 

part of the silence."

Robert Lynd