week 163

 

Mon: Quite humbling to realize how seven decades deteriorate arms and legs flexibility and, together with decreased visual acuity, affect daily mobility even indoors.

Tue: Living on the shores of a lake reachable only by an hour of hydroplane from Fairbanks, with your closest neighbors 70 miles away, provides true isolation.

Wed: Schumann’s tumultuous family life infuses their musical oeuvre with a tinge of melancholy longing for days past.

Thu: The razor sharp rock outcrops of Namoroka national park in Madagascar, an ancient sea bed where countless endemic species find refuge, feel otherworldly.

Fri: Father Laval introduction of christianity in the Gambier islands, justified by the “vision” of white clad celestial beings by the native queen, left behind an amazing cathedral and a sizeable reduction of its population.

 

week 162

 

Mon: Hard to believe that the COVID pandemic will cause a 2 to 3 year slowdown in air traffic.

Tue: Sea nomads wandering through the south Pacific turquoise islands look like a very appealing way of living until the ocean gets rough with boat shaking waves.

Wed: Creating the Indonesian nation-state in the 20th century out of a large archipelago colonized by the Dutch, seeking true independence while the Cold war is waged and not being overwhelmed by the economic globalization of the ’90s is truly miraculous.

Thu: A hundred year old mechanic mobile organ, cared for with extreme dexterity, still provides happiness to village parties all over the Cuban island.

Fri: The Kumzari people at the geographical tip of of northern Oman fishing sardines on wide open bays with traditional baatil vessels remain true to their roots for one more generation.

 

week 161

 

Mon: How to take a vacation while under COVID imposed restrictions? Try staycation and (re)visit your surroundings to become more appreciative of their value.

Tue: To get out of the rat race by walking from Seattle to Seldovia aiming at settling down in the Kenai peninsula is beyond belief.

Wed: Watching the Nenet migration with their herds of deer from the Yamal peninsula tundra south into the Ural mountains in early autumn satisfies one’s wanderlust.

Thu: Ancient phallic shaped monolithic stela in the Gedeo populated region of southern Ethiopia are a salient example of how much African history remains undocumented.

Fri: The Tao people of Orchid island, southeast of Taiwan, carefully protect their restrained fishing practices by using ancient implements for the benefit of future generations.

 

 

 

week 160

 

Mon: Barter, the old way of exchanging goods between parties, still could be a way away from the current wasteful consumerism.

Tue: The rain forest hills of northern Guatemala are a very off the beaten path place to set up a profitable bed&breakfast.

Wed: Moruroa nuclear tests of the ’90s are a flagrant example of neocolonialism at its worse that compounded with the rising sea level mean doom for the atoll.

Thu: The highlands of Lesotho, above 2000 m., provide a refuge for a hard life style based on growing sorghum and raising goats.

Fri: The Buginese people of Borneo, fishing anchovies and sardines from platforms standing out in the sea at the wee hours of the night to lure them into illuminated nets, extract barely an income.

 

week 159

 

Mon: Forensic science abilities get way too turbo-charged in the regular police procedural TV show.

Tue: Escaping to Meadow Creek (BC) is a very leisurely but halfhearted way of leaving the rat race.

Wed: Cox’s Bazar half moon shaped wooden boats on Bangladesh east coast provide a rare occasion to admire the art and craft of seafaring builders.

Thu: New Zealand north island with cosmopolitan Auckland and Karekare regional park close by makes for a very livable place.

Fri: Women have it tough in Zanzibar having to fight their way through the societal pressure that impedes them from simply play musical instruments in public, let alone sing or dance…