Through The Eyes of A Local

A shot of color

2007-05-30T00:08:00.000-07:00

Serenity amidst the chaos

2006-11-02T22:37:00.000-08:00

These are the only photographs I managed to take during the hectic 3 day school thing we had at Baguio City.

Its known as the summer capital of the Philippines because of its cold weather. It was even more of a delight to visit in October as it gets really cold when it rains. When you've lived in the hot humid zone of the city (36-43 degrees) freezing weather is a welcome respit.

Oh, these serene view is enough to tempt me to consider becoming a Good Shepherd nun. Now there's just the matter of getting accepted into the congregation. I wonder if they'd welcome a flamboyant pantheist into their quiet community. A-ha-ha!

My friends and I went to the Good Shepherd Seminary for a rest stop and to buy some of their famous pastries and fruit preserves. It just occured to me now that it would've been great to include a picture of such goodies but it is now day four since my arrival from Baguio ang the goodies are all gone. My sister just picked up her pasalubong (treats that friends and family bring back from the place they had a holiday. Its a Filipino tradition) yesterday. Next time then.

We had to leave on the last day of the seminar even though we would've wanted to stay another day. I'm glad we did. A storm came in a couple of hours after our 5:20PM bus left.

Summer is Sunset Time

2006-07-15T23:11:00.000-07:00

Need I say anything. other than, "For those of you in Winter, take some Summer heat and sunshine and bask in it for a time."

Sonoran Spring

2006-05-23T21:40:00.000-07:00

~SONORAN SPRING~

I grew up in Michigan and was accustomed to the slow advance of a temperate spring, where it sidles ever so carefully closer, and then, one day, it is here! Blooms follw the same advance every year, snowdrops, hyacinths, and daffodils, then tulips and fruit trees, after that roses, berries and hardwoods, and finally the garden bursts in fecund glory; squash, cucumbers, tomatoes, peppers,and melons all bloom and mature almost magically. The hard green tomato of this morning will be deep red, tangy, and juicy in three days. But I digress, I wanted to share the Sonoran Spring with you.

Here, in the middle of the Sonoran Desert; which extends from Western New Mexico to California, and from Nevada to Central Mexico; spring is sorrowfully brief. Spring is a few weeks in late April and early May, wedged between 'Snowbird Season' and Summer.

When Spring does spring though, it is amazing and glorious.
The varieties of cacti bloom with exuberant flowers in the shades of a desert sunset. Some cacti, like the Night-Blooming Cereus, bloom one night of the year, and the flower is dying by dawn.

Saguaro (sa-Warr-oh) are staunchly upright, with a single column until they are over 50 years old, they are home to cactus wrens and doves, that nest on, or in, the Saguaro. A mature Saguaro can literally weigh tons. The inner part of this bristling giant is one enormous sponge, full of stored water against the long dry spells of the desert

The Cactus Wren pecks a hollow in the body of the Saguaro and builds a snug home for her babies, safe from almost all predators.

Doves will choose a 'cosy' cranny in the branches of a mature Saguaro, and build their nest there, surrounded by the cactus' natural armament. I have seen them return to the same nest every year.

Prickly Pear Cactus, AKA 'Irishman's Mitten' is edible, once you have burned the spines and skin off the plant or the fruit. The plant is pickled and marketed as 'Nopalitos' (NO pah-lee-tos), the fruit are made into jelly, just as one would turn grapes, apple, or berries into a jelly. I have not tried this, although I always stop to admire the crystal-clear red of the Prickly Pear Jelly, and candy!

Agave (Ah-gah-vay) are not quite the same critter as cacti, but survive the dry seasons much the same way that cacti do. One of the Agave varieties is the basis for Tequila and Mezcal (Mess-cal), and yes, it really does have a 'pickled' grublike worm swirling in the bottom of the bottle!

While Aloe Vera is not native to the Sonoran Desert it thrives in the environment, the plant sends a tall, hollow shoot from the centre of the plant, which will be covered in numerous bright orange, yellow, or red trumpet blossoms peering intently at the ground.

Organ Pipe cacti live up to their name, each plant is a mass of fat stems, shooting Heavenwards and a crown of blooms on their top. To see a valley with the Organ Pipe cacti marching in disorganised groups to the cliffs is an amazing sight, for they can reach almost 40 feet tall in adulthood.

Old Man Cactus are popular as a landscaping cactus, being smaller, and having the added feature of white 'hair' swirling through the rows of spines.

The most commonly seen trees here are Palo Verde (Pal-oh Vurr-dee), Ironwood, Cottonwood, and Desert Willow. The Palo Verde are unmistakable with their light green leaves and bark.

Cottonwood scatter their 'cotton' far and wide, loose clumps of white threads holding one precious seed within.

The Desert Willow is best described as a 'short-haired' cousin to the Weeping Willow. The leaves on the Desert Willow are so small and leathery the plant often looks naked in the middle of spring.

The Ironwood Tree was very popular during World War II, my Grandmother told me years ago that it was used as a replacement for steel ball bearings in machines and equipment, and were found to be superior to the finest steel ball bearings. I trust my Grandmother's words on this, she worked in AC Spark Plug for year, as well as raising my Mum during those years.

The 'Brain Cactus' looks very much like a brain in its early years, if it is planted outside it will grow long graceful arms that arc across the ground and eventually touch the ground again.

No discussion of desert flora could be complete without the ubiquitous Cholla (Choy-yah), also known as the 'jumping cactus', from their method of propagation; when a person or animal walks too close to the living Cholla plant, pieces of the plant break off and hitch a ride using the barbed spines, thick as an ermine's coat, that give the cholla a fuzzy, huggable appearance.

Cacti will die, everything does. When the cacti fall over and begin returning to the earth as they ought, they leave behind amazing skeletons. The skeletons are as diverse as the cacti themselves. Saguro have long, straight ribs that are strong enough to be used as a walking stick or in a piece of furniture.

Because they are so popular for the 'desert landscaping' adopted here they are almost impossible to find in the desert, and when you do see them, they are on protected land and so are to be left there. Cholla skeletons are hollow, fragile and honeycombed with holes.

The desert also has short, fat sagebrush plants dotting the flatlands and foothills, and yes, there really are tumbleweeds! They grow, rooted in one place, until the seeds begin to mature, the plant dies and dries as the seed ripens. When the seed is ready, the plant is brittle and dry and a good wind will break it off at the base. As it scurries mindlessly about the landscape the tumbleweed scatters seed as it goes, the seed slips into crevices in the hardpan, or tiny patches of soil. Next rainy season the cycle begins anew.

Citrus bloom with dainty white, star-shaped petals that permeate the air with perfume. Although I am severely allergic to citrus, I still fill my nose with the scent of freshly watered citrus groves. The citrus are lookalike until they are reaching full size, all of them are a deep green, with that instantly recognisable thick, pockmared skin.

Big excitement in little A.J.

2006-05-16T23:28:00.000-07:00

Apache Junction is a growing community on the eastern end of the 'Phoenix Metropolitan Area', such a charming label for almost a dozen cities butted up against one another. For 70 miles North to South, and 70 miles East to West it is solid city, with a population nearing 8 million people crammed in that area.

Being a city of 'Retirement Communities' Apache Junction can be mellow, especially when the 'Winter Visitors/Snowbirds' head back home to Minnesota, Iowa, Michigan and so forth. It is too hot in the summer to do much outdoors, even with plenty of water to drink. The Telly, even with satellite or cable channells, is utterly mind-numbing. So, entertainment is rare, and excitement is even rarer.

Tuesday morning, Matt came charging into the house and shouted, "There's a fire on the freeway!! I heard the explosion!!"

So, after I had staggered out of sleep, prayed for the safety of whomever might have been in the vicinity and grabbed my camera, out the door I flew, barefoot, in my nightie, with a terminal case of bed-head.

Yes there was a horrific fire blazing, the smoke was black and dense, and reeked of burning rubber. The flames were orange, red, and yellow; while the two fire trucks had to park a distance away from the fire and walk in with their hoses. In the few minutes it had taken to get out of the house, traffic had backed up nearly a mile, all four lanes of it.

Once all the excitement had died down, and all the neighbours throughout the 'Manufactured Home Community' (a fancy term for a trailer park) had returned home to rehash what they had seen, I went back outside, and I could see that the vehicle fire was an early 60's Winnebago, all that remained now was a blackened skeleton crouching on the verge of the freeway.

This took Matt and I back to our childhoods, when we would spend every Saturday night watching the series "Emergency"... To be immediately followed by a structure fire within walking distance. Matt, our brother Jim, and myself were sure that there was a pyromaniac in the area.

Anywhoo... it was a bit of excitement, and I thought it would make for interesting reading, especially with photos to go along with it.

TWO SIDES OF A CITY

2006-04-11T21:51:00.000-07:00

I travelled across a bridge
that divides the people living in my city
Westgate Bridge is the link that binds us together
The East from the West
The factories and industry from high rise apartments
Differnces in where people live

It was early morning when I set out
Not by choice, but necessity
8 lanes of traffic
trucks,vans,utes and cars
It was windy ,speed reduced to 40kph.
Trucks ingnore these signs sometimes
As they roared past me
I had to hold tight to the wheel.

Then the 100 kph zone loomed up
I needed to keep up otherwise I would be tooted
I could be classed as dangerous for driving under this speed
Thirty minutes later I arrived at the turn off the freeway
Green gardens and houses with trees could be seen
People lived here in this newer area
Shops,schools ,there is a community
families with small children on there way to school
or kindergarden
Life was on the go.

Three hours later after my visit, I set off for home
Once again toward the Westgate bridge for the crossing
As I reached the top of the bridge the sea came into view
white capped waves straddled the bay
Then......into view came the pier near my home
Berthed was a gigantic cruise ship
taking up 2 places on the longest pier in Victoria
The bow seemed to reach out into the bay

All white with blue trim on the funnel
not a cut off design like some ferrys
but sleek and with a pointed bow
Then it disappeared from view as I took the turn off road
I decided to drive to where I could see HER (all ships are female)
As I sat in my small car I felt like an ant
as she towered above the buildings where she was tied up

I think there is nothing more exciting than watching
a ship set to sail
Standing as she leaves the wharf/pier assisted by 2 tugs
just enough to guide her into the channel
I felt excited ,just like when I was a child
In those days 30's 40's 50's as many as a dozen ships a week
Cargo was then unloaded by wharf labourers
Uncles,cousins and friends of our family
Those going to war,migrants arriving in a new land

Again I reminis and know that the past
is so much a part of the now
I thank my Mum & Dad for allowing me come back
to the home we all shared
I love to see others enjoying such a journey
But for me I can be happy just to live
here, that which I call home,
My North, my South, my East my West
This is my Lemuria.

Lois (Muse of the Sea) 12.4.06

Home cooking for vegans and home for the creative mind

2006-04-09T02:46:00.000-07:00

This is Likha Diwa, one of my favorite restaurants. Its a 15 minute walk from where I live. Roughly translated, the name means Creative Mind.

They serve vegan and sea food dishes. They also sell organic food products, condiments and meat substiture producs made from gluten and soy protein.

The floor of the restaurant is hand painted with nature motifs.

The a hand painted tarp doubles as a ceiling for the Garden Seating area.

Likha serves vegan dishes with homecooked taste. They use no MSG or any flavor enhanser on their food. In a country where MSG is considered a condiment, I was happy to have discovered this place. That its only a stone thrown away from where I live is but another blessing. Happiness!

They also have celebrations every full moon. Artists and musicians perform during such celebrations. When its not raining, the garden is also set up with tables and chairs to accomodate more people during festivities.

Again, I wish I could bring you all over to this place. I think you'd enjoy it here.

My little corner of the world...

2006-03-23T23:51:00.000-08:00

Our view of the river

We live at Eagleby, a village on the banks of the Albert River. The Albert is a sinuous looping ribbon, a tributary of the Logan River, which leads to the Pacific Ocean. Local fishermen throw in a line and doze on the banks – they don’t catch many fish but I don’t think that’s the main attraction anyway.

To get to our favourite picnic spot at Cabbage Tree Point, we follow the river. A scenic drive that also takes us through the local canefields gets us there, and although it doesn’t compare to the glamorous beaches of the Gold Coast, it is a beautiful spot. The cabbage trees are quite magnificent, covered with the huge flat waxy leaves that give them their name. You can see one in the back of the picnic shelter below.

There’s a sheltered beach where children can safely swim, a playground, picnic ground and lots of fishing spots along the shore. We like to fire up the barbecue and spread ourselves out over one of the picnic shelters. When the whole family gathers there for a reunion, we can easily fill one of these!
.

One of the things I love most about Cabbage Tree is the bird life - there are a flock of pelicans there that wait patyiently for the fishermen to come back in their boats. I took this picture of them, which I call `The Three Wise Pelicans". They are beauiful birds.

This is a private jetty at Cabbage Treee - I just thought the garden chair was so cool!

So, this is our little corner of the world. The pace is slow, the air is clear and fesh, and if we crave some excitement, the Gold Coast and the City of Brisbane are just half an hour away.

One of my favorite place in the city

2006-03-16T13:44:00.000-08:00

Hi everyone.

These are taken in one of my favorite places in Quezon City. I still can't believe my luck to be living so near a place where there are incredibly beautiful trees and a manmade lagoon. Nevermind the poluted waters, its still beautiful.

I go there for my quiet time. Its peaceful and serene.

I'll post more after I've cleaned up the pictures. Meanwhile, I hope you enjoy these. I wish I could send some of these niblets your way.

This is one of the oldest trees in the University of the Philippines' Lagoon. There's a small wooden bench within the trunk of the tree which I love to sit in when the ants haven't beaten me to it. LOL!

This is one of the walkways to the other side of the lagoon. Its a pity the lotus flowers weren't open when I went there to take these photographs. I'll visit in the morning next time so I can take photos of the lotus flowers.

This is one of the many street food carts around the campus. Deep fried niblets are one of the favorite food of the Filipinos. Deep fried food is prefered as it is believed that boiling oil may best ensure the cleanliness of the food because bacteria will not survive the high heat of the frying process. That's my friend Jina watching and waiting while her kabob niblets are frying.

That's a kabob of fishballs dripping on the make shift rack attached to the rim of the wok. Boiling in oil at the moment are cheese sticks. Cheese strips wrapped in spring roll wrapper (like philo pastry).

This is a selection of what Manang (Old woman) is selling. The white balls are squid balls, the balls with pepper flecks on them are chicken balls, the brown strips are called quikiam (gluten mixed with pork, onions and spices), the orange yellow balls are quail eggs coated in a tasty batter, the white sticks are cheese sticks wrapped in spring roll wrapper, the thinner round things are fish balls (they puff up when fried and then returns to their pancake like appearance after cooking) and then there's the foot long hotdogs.

There are 3 kinds of dip available: Sweet and spicy (sweet, sour and added with chilly pepper), there's sweet sauce, and then there's the palm vinegar with bits of fresh chilies (resembling chipotelle) and raw spanish onions. People usually dip the kabobs in the vinegar dip first and then in the sweet and/ or the sweet and spiciy dip. The dips use to be in deep bottles for dipping the kabobs in. Now, however, for purposes of sanitation dips now comes in squirt bottles and are poured on the kabobs instead.

These street foods are one of the few things I miss when I turned vegan 13 years ago. Sigh!

Luxembourg City

2006-03-11T05:14:00.000-08:00

To some people the name Luxembourg is synonymous with the now defunct Radio Luxembourg and to others it is merely a place to stop off, en route to the south, to buy cheap petrol and cigarettes. People have been travelling through Luxembourg for centuries. The Vikings went south and the Spaniards went north, conquering people and trampling the little country underfoot. I have been stopped here for 21 years now.

The jewel of its crown is the capital, also called Luxembourg, and its old quarter. It was nominated European capital of the year 1995 and much money was spent in restoring parts of the old city.

Built on an outcrop of cliffs and protected on two sides by river valleys, it was the obvious site for a fortified city.

Now the fortifications have become the central attraction for a popular walk, called the Wenzel walk, which shows off the city to its best advantage.

In the summer the garden allotments built into the hillside are alive with birdsong and the buzz of contented bees. Swallows fly through the air questing for insects.
Today the quadrangle outside the Neumunster Abbey is a Sunday morning jazz venue and exhibition area, while the old prison now hosts exhibitions.

Cobbled streets twist up the hillside towards the old commercial part of the town with names like Fish Market and Butchers Street. The beautiful baroque church is home to one of the rare statues of a black Madonna.

Here you can visit the History of the City of Luxembourg museum, one of the best museums I have ever visited. Starting at the bottom you climb up through the centuries of the city’s history until you reach the modern day exhibits. The lifts have glass walls so that you can see the older rock structure as you move upwards through time. Wooden “maquettes” illustrate the growth of the city over the last few centuries.

On a sunny day there is no better place to go for a walk, sit in the sun with a drink and admire the view.

Luxembourg is, of course, famous for its food – mostly French but served in Germanic portions!

Sheepyard Flat

2006-03-10T02:11:00.000-08:00

Close your eyes-come journey with me
To a special place where my soul soars free.
Away from crowds and grit and grime,
From the pull of duty, constraints of time.

Down a rutted, meandering track,
Not quite, but almost, The Outback.
To grassy flats where stringybarks reign
And the Howqua flows high after snow or rain.

When summers are harsh the river runs low,
Still chasing the rapids and boulders below.
Wisps of smoke from fires far away
Waft in on the breeze, linger, and stay.

This special place murmurs often to me.
When autumn wanes softly and wistfully
I look up from my desk, and pause, knowing that
A part of my heart lingers at Sheepyard Flat.

Sheepyard Flat is seventeen kilometres along the Howqua Road which winds out from Merrijig, Victoria. How I wish I had some photos to scan and share with you. But I doubt they would capture faithfully the sense of freedom and timelessness and the utter exhilaration that a glimpse brings to me as this road widens at last into the grassy flats.

Look...you must be able to see the magnificent eucalypts so still in the heat of a summer midday.
They watch over a group of children wading around the shallows and shifting stones, large and small, in an attempt to "dam" the river. But it defiantly bubbles on and soon they are racing down the rapids on blown up li-los which will soon need patching as the boulders tear at them.
Their shrill cries echo those of all the children of all colours who have played here or helped catch the elusive trout from deeper pools for dinner for centuries past. In a few years these children will come back seeking the echoes of their youthful enthusiasm and hope.

At other times these trees will be bending with winter storms. The ghosts of early settlers watch around the struggling fires, suprised that they have been ousted by campers huddled and waiting for snow to dump. These campers sometimes look up from their glowing coals suspecting that they are not the first here, wondering if it was a clip of hooves they heard behind the trees. And go back to staring into the fire lost in their own imaginings. Wondering at the little cemetery they passed on the way in, or at the stream of miners who had made their way with a clink of pots hopefully but futilely along the valley in days gone by. Braced as they are now against the bone-chilling wind.Trying to keep the fire alight. Far from electric light and doctors and take away dinners.

But most of all to me it is the embodiment of tranquility. The evening light is soft and bending through the trees, and the river is mumuring in recognition of the cresent moon now rising from behind the hills and scattered in reflection in the deep pools. It is the place to me beneath the Southern Cross where, like the hermits of ages past, I am shown the firmament bending close. Long after my ashes have been scattered in the eddies, it will be my place of resurrection.

LET ME COUNT THE WAYS

2006-03-03T08:19:00.000-08:00

I'm really looking forward to learning all about Melbourne...and I thought maybe you'd like the chance to learn a little about where I live.

I live near Seattle, Washington and I hope that after you read this you'll understand why I love it so and what exactly it is I see in it:

So, you wonder, how does Anita see Seattle?
I'm glad you asked...

These are four little reasons I love Seattle and here on my list you just might find a reason why you might want to visit it someday...that is if this doesn't scare you off.
AMM

Reason I love Seattle #1

In the old days when the tide came in all the toilets would explode. That's why the bathrooms were built high up off the foundations.

Reason I love Seattle #2

This is our Trolley Car. I loved this thing because when it passed over the street
(Which is my warehouse ceiling) it would make the ground shake, cement bits would fall from the walls and the mortar holding the bricks together would poof out just like little puffs of smoke.

The part I enjoyed was when people would scream, 'what is that an earthquake?' and I'd say something like 'no, don't be silly it's just really big rats in the walls'.

Also, I put this here because this baby was made in...

TA-DAH!!!!!

AUSTRALIA!...

don't ask me, how it got here. My guess is someone in our transportation system got drunk and won it in a card game.

No, I'm NOT kidding.

Reason I love Seattle #3
This is the building I work in...well, under. This photo was taken in the 1940's and by this time the building was a little over 30 years old. I only mention it because my Great Grandmother was convinced it was haunted. She use to tell us that the only thing more haunted then that building was the ground they built it on.

Whatever made her believe that happened around the time this picture was taken.

That's no lie.

Reason I love Seattle #4
We consider this art in Seattle

Enough said for now, but this is my own private Tour of Seattle and I'd love to have you come along again soon.

(images collected from the internet)

Through the Eyes of a Local

2006-03-02T18:59:00.000-08:00

You don't have to old to reminisce
You don't have to look back
and say "The old days were the best"
The old buildings were beautiful
The sea was greener
The beach was cleaner
The streets were calmer

We have lost much
there is no doubt
destruct and re-build
is the motto of today
Preserve those buildings called heritage
charge us to see them, if not miss out !

But let us focus on the young
There is still much to experience
much to see of what was once history
of this colony of Port Phillip
Remnants still stand of the past
They can be rekindled
Excitement can be generated

Let us take the young with photos in hand
history in the written word
Use their imagination
to draw, to write in poetry perhaps
of what it was that made up who they are today
Their ancestors from countries afar and beyond
made this the place they call home
They can and will be inspired of tales so wonderous
perhaps like fairy stories of long ago
But with all in truth they come to life,
thre is excitement,drama, pathos and above all hope
in times often hard to imagine.
Memories never die, but they need to be captured
from those who still remember grow old.

Lois (Muse of the Sea) 3.3.06

Local Knowledge

2006-02-24T21:55:00.000-08:00

The steps of Flinder’s Street station are a favourite meeting place for Melbournians of all ages. When people want to meet they often make an arrangement to meet under the clocks and at any time of the day you will see quite a crowd there.

Anyone who has travelled knows that 'local knowledge' is worth its weight in gold and travellers love to share and exchange ideas about the best things to see and do. Everyone likes to go home thinking they saw an aspect of a place that few tourists manage to see. This is what travel stories are made of.

'Through The Eyes of A Local' will provide a way for Victorian students to take visitors to their favourite parts of Melbourne and share 'local knowledge' about what someone should be doing while they are here. Perhaps more importantly, because these are cyber steps, there will be the opportunity for people from all over the world to meet on these virtual steps to reciprocate and share local knowledge about their private part of the world.

Eventually there will be many projects opening from this virtual meeting places, like the Magic Writing Tram, designed to encourage people to meet on the stairs to join virtual adventures.

It is hoped that each project will lead to a special feature project like the 2004 Anthology that displays exciting work from around Victoria and, from the rest of the world.

This is a global project and will include 'local knowledge' about all sorts of places, but it will be always evident that the project's origins lay in Melbourne, Victoria.