Unraveled

"Sometimes, when one is moving silently through such an utterly desolate landscape, an overwhelming hallucination can make one feel that oneself, as an individual human being, is slowly being unraveled.  The surrounding space is so vast that it becomes increasingly difficult to keep a balanced grip on one's own being.  The mind swells out to fill the entire landscape, becoming so diffuse in the process that one loses the ability to keep it fastened to the physical self."

Haruki Murakami 

The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle

 

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

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

Lord, I surrender

Lord, I surrender.

Have YOUR way with me

and my family.

This photograph was taken sitting on the Blutkopje, looking back west towards the ocean.  The day was very hot with only a few airy clouds floating around.  The sun was just starting to set over our campsite when we spotted this beautiful rainbow in the clouds.  Rainbows, for us, are very special. They are a reminder of a promise from our Creator.  The rainbow brings us great hope and comfort...

Lord, please give us eyes to "see" beyond just the confines of this earthly world and its sufferings. Please keep us in Your will and show us the way.  You are our only hope in life and beyond. We surrender.

  

Pursuit of Happiness

"Happiness in this world, when it comes, comes incidentally.  

Make it the object of pursuit, and it leads us on a wild-goose chase, and it is never attained.  

Follow some other object, and very possibly we may find that we have caught happiness without dreaming of it."

- Nathaniel Hawthorne

American Notebooks

The Moon landscape, outside Swakopmund is a impressive dreamy landscape that no photograph can ever truly reflect the beauty and splendour of.  It's a scene that takes your breath away...

The world

"The world is a comedy 

to those that think,

a tragedy to those

that feel"

- Horace Walpole, 4th Earl of Oxford

Letter, 1776

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!

   

The 1905 Jetty

This is the structure that in history brought life and commerce to Swakopmund.  Over the years, it has suffered many revamps and closures, but today, it's a proud structure looming over the town.  And she is a photogenic beauty!

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...

Sunsets

I delight in sunsets.  Always have.  For a few moments each day, the sky turns the most magnificent hues and colours, painted by a Master's Hand...

My life partner moved to Namibia six months before I moved.  We've been together for 11 years and we thoroughly enjoy spending time together, whether idle or busy.  He is my best friend, best lover, best carer and best provider - he is my everything and much of what I do revolves around him.  He is my North.  Naturally, being apart for such a long time was very hard for both of us.  Although working hard during the day, evenings were long and lonely.  

Some colleagues became aware that we were apart and started inviting him for sundowners after work.  But every night, when dusk came, this sweet man of mine would turn his back deliberately to the sunset, close his eyes and refuse to watch.  Every night for six months.  No amount of coaxing or teasing would entice him to turn around and look at the sun setting.  Why?  

Because he wanted to share his first sunset in this beautiful country with me.  Because he knows how special they are to me.  To him, it was a way of telling me he missed me and wished I was with him.

It was love.

On 04 December 2014, we shared our first Namibian sunset together.  And have been trying to catch them together ever since.

May we never spend another sunset apart.

I love you my Desert Wolf.   

Contrasts

"The mass of men lead lives of quiet desperation.

What is called resignation is confirmed desperation."

Henry David Thoreau

Walden