The Journey Begins

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July 21, 2008 LA to London

Citation X

 

I love airports and I love to travel, especially international travel. The moment I walk into a international airport I get a rush, a rush of possibilities; places I could go, people I could meet, things I could see, and tastes I could enjoy. I live a busy and stressful life, one with a lot of discipline, and so a chance to travel is a chance to let go, break the routine and retire the disciple. When I travel, it is an adventure.

Chinatown

 

Sitting in the airport I hear voices from all over the world, German, Russian, French, Korean, Japanese, and who knows what else. An airport is a window into the world. Growing up in Toronto I had an advantage. I grew up amidst every possible culture. Toronto is a melting pot like New York, so from my earliest age I acquired a taste for the foreign. Even now working with my temple, I live more in India than in America. I have learned to swim in exotic cultures, and I am never cease to be amazed how varied the world is and how the human mind can think in such diverse ways.

Kensington Market, Toronto, Canada

 

One of the things I enjoyed the most as I grew up was going to all night Italian vegetable stands at 5 in the morning after morning services at the Toronto Krishna temple. I would buy just enough fresh fruits and vegetable to last the day so that I would have to return the next day. Even now I enjoy vegetable shopping, though I can no longer find those Italian shops. Orange and Riverside counties just do not have the diversity of Toronto. I also enjoyed visiting the Greek and French cheese shops in the ethnic markets of Toronto. I learned to enjoy cheese from these shops. I would also visit the huge Chinatown that is part of life in Toronto. International travel is in my blood. And now I am off to Europe again. This will be my fifth trip in as many years.

Cheese shop at Kensington Market in Toronto

 

This time I am going to England, France and Greece. You might expect that England would have been my destination on the first trip, but no, I had to do it the hard way! I purposely took my first to a non English speaking country. I wanted to start in a daring way, jump in feet first and test myself. I remember crawling out of the Metro in downtown Paris at rush hour on a cold rainy October evening. What a shock, coming from the heat and sun baked deserts of Southern California and onto the cold dreary streets of Paris! But I survived and even did well, and little by little, I have been learning how to travel. It is true I still “freak out” at the beginning of each trip, but in the end I always pull it together and charge ahead. So here I am now, on a plane to London.

 

National Archeological Museum of Greece

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August 7, 2008

I went to the National Museum today. This was my last tour for this trip. Athens is a hellish place to be in. Walking around here is even worse than walking around in Los Angeles. Walking in downtown Paris or London is pleasurable, but Athens is horrible. Anyway, I walked to the metro, took the metro for 5 stops and then walked again to the museum. The National Archaeological Museum is tiny compared to London or Paris, but even so, it is a spectacular collection. You can see the photos. Like almost everywhere I have been, most of the items I am looking at are unknown to me. My technique is to see it, take photos and then study afterwards, which will take many months to absorb once I return home. I just do not have the time to prepare, nor do I even know what I will be seeing. So ‘reverse travel’ is my solution.

Many of the kinds of things that I saw here can also be seen in the Louvre or in British Museum, but in those places the crowds make it impossible to spend time and absorb what you are seeing. Here the museum, by comparison, is empty and there is much less of it to see. It seems that most of Greece has been stolen by France and Britain. Napoleon and Nelson saw to that. Nonetheless, what is here is spectacular.

Obviously it is not possible for me to write about everything I saw in this museum. My photos will speak for for what I saw. Suffice to say that the Greeks, more than any other civilization I have seen so far, were masters of aesthetics. This fact is borne out whether it be in sculpture, architecture, philosophy or literature. I have said this many times before that you can certainly learn a lot through books and video, but nothing compares to actually seeing these things on location. To see precisely how the Greeks shaped the human body with such grace and elegance in stone or metal is absolutely stunning. These masters could make stone and metal flow like butter. Their work is unsurpassed. In this museum you can a fairly good Egyptian collection, and when you see compare it on the spot with the Greek collection it is obvious how superior the Greeks were in sculpture and just about everything else when it comes to aesthetics. The same goes for what I saw in London and in Paris.

Whenever I think of antiquity I mostly think of old stone ruins whether is be the Greek, Egyptian or Indian civilizations. In a similar way, when I think of the mediaeval and renaissance worlds, I think of paintings and illuminated manuscripts, so I have certain associations that go along with different historical time periods. Here in this museum I saw something that ‘jumped’ out at me as completely out of place. This was a calculator called the Antikythera mechanism. I have since learned that this object is famous. Here is what the Wikipeadia has to say about this device, “The Antikythera mechanism is an ancient mechanical calculator designed to find astronomical positions. It was discovered in the Antikythera wreck off the Greek island of Antikythera, between Kythera and Crete, in 1901. Subsequent investigation, particularly in 2006, dated it to about 150–100 BC; and hypothesized that it was on board a ship that sank en route from the Greek island of Rhodes to Rome. Technological artifacts of similar complexity did not reappear until a thousand years later… The mechanism is the oldest known complex scientific calculator. It contains many gears, and is regarded essentially as an analog computer. It appears to be constructed upon theories of astronomy and mathematics developed by Greek astronomers…”

What you see in the museum is a extremely corroded artifact, but beside it is a modern replica of this ancient device which gives a clear idea of what this device originally may have looked like. What you see looks totally modern. Is this really what this device looked like? Amongst such extreme artistic and architectural beauty and sophistication, it should not be surprising to see a piece of ‘modern’ technology. It makes me wonder what other pieces of modern technology we are not seeing from antiquity.

Every time I visit these major museums I recognize famous pieces of art that I have seen in books or on television for years, but when you first see it in person your breath is momentarily taken away. There is that ‘ah!’ of aesthetic arrest. There was lot of ‘ah’ here. Before I came to this museum I had no idea of what I would be seeing. It was a good day! I have seen a lot during this trip and I am satisfied!

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Delphi

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Wednesday Aug 6, 2008

This morning I took a bus from Athens to Delphi, a distance of about 160 kms. This was a good chance to see the country. Yesterday I saw the coastal area, now I am seeing the mainland. For me, Greece is basically Southern California, complete with smog, heat and spectacular scenery, except that it has “funny” writing. I noted this yesterday as I was traveling up the coast. Take away the signs written in Greek letters and you could not tell the difference between southern California and here. The drive to Delphi remained me of going to Idylwild via the Ramona Expressway near Hemet, except the distance was much farther. The mountainous region that you ascend to reach Delphi (Mount Parnassus) is a little higher than San Jacinto, but not by much. I am right at home in Greece.

This is an agricultural country, which is obvious once you drive away from Athens. It appears to be mostly olive trees and grape vines with just a few other things thrown in that will grow in a Mediterranean climate. It is beautiful scenery, but there is the all pervasive brown haze over everything. Just like home.

Delphi is the ancient site of the famous Delphi oracle and temple to Apollo. Today it is an archeological site with a modern town that serves the needs of the thousands of tourist that come here daily. The site is high up in the coastal mountains; I am guessing, close to 3,000 meters. The views are spectacular. I try to imagine how this place was built at this elevation and in such a remote location. Who came here and how did they do it? Not an easy journey to say the least, especially in ancient times. Of course, the world is full of famous places built in difficult to reach locations, Tirupati and Kedarnath in India are two that come to mind. That they are built in difficult and impractical locations only seems to lead to their sacredness. It is a fact of life that if something is hard, impractical, or even dysfunctional it can easily become perceived as spiritual or mystical if the element of divinity can be added to the mix. I am being a little cynical no doubt, but the famous Monty Python film, “The Life of Brian” keeps coming to mind as I visit these religious sites, especially here at Delphi with the ancient oracles and the geothermal vapors. Enough said. Regardless, these ruins are worth seeing and their remote and gorgeous setting only adds to their wonder, beauty and mystical feel.

For the ancient Mediterranean people, Delphi was quite literally the center of the universe. According to myth, Zeus released two eagles from opposite ends of the earth and they met in the sky above Delphi. As they collided, they empaled one another with their beaks and fell to the ground. The site where they landed was the center of the universe, and in ancient times this spot was marked by the famous omphalos, or “navel” stone which can still be seen here today. The myth of the cosmic navel is common throughout the ancient world. In India we hear the story of Vishnu’s navel from where the lotus sprouts that gives birth to the creator God Brahma. It is from this spot that creation takes place.

The walk up the main road towards the temple of Apollo passes by rows of merchant stalls and a brothel. This was also the case at Ephesus. No town is complete without the brothel. You also see a lot of “votive shrines,” or small sanctuary buildings that emperors and wealthy pilgrims had built as a tribute for the services of the oracle. The concept the votive offering, whether it be a piece of cloth tied to a fence as in the case of the house of the Virgin in Turkey or the construction of a tribute building as in this case, pervades the world’s pilgrimage sites. Apparently Delphi was an important banking center for the Greek world because there is a whole street of treasury buildings established as votive offerings. It is always the case that people want to store their wealth in the presence of God. We saw this in Vrindavan India where sadhus deposit their life savings in the local bank. You can see numerous treasury buildings along the path that leads to Apollo’s temple. The most notable is the Athen’s Treasury building that has been reconstructed by french archaeologists.

Before reaching the temple of Apollo you pass the famous Rock of Sibyl where an earlier oracle related to the Goddess Gaia used to sit. Gaia of course is the famous Gaya or Earth Mother Goddess. Apparently Delphi was a site dedicated to the Goddess before it became a site related to a male divinity. Mother always comes first. The Rock of Sibyl was said to be the place where a sibyl, a priestess, would sit and give prophecy. Later this oracle as relegated to a secondary position after the oracle of Apollo became established. Father always takes over.

As you finally reach the temple of Apollo you can only see a few doric columns still standing, but it is not hard to imagine how majestic and spectacular this temple once was. Perched on this mountain terrace and looking up from the valley below, the view of this sacred temple would have been glorious. The rule, “build it and they will come” surely applied in those days as it still does today. People come here by the thousands each day. There were two earlier temples to Apollo on this site: the first was burned in 548 BC and the second was destroyed by an earthquake. Some archaic wall blocks are preserved from the first temple and many of wall blocks and some pediment sculptures are extant from the second temple.

Just behind Apollo’s temple is a flat block of stone turned on its end with holes in it. This is the famous stone where the female “mouth piece,” an elderly woman called a Pythia, would sit, fall into a trance and allow the voice of Apollo to speak through her. This is the Oracle of Delphi and this woman’s utterances once could change the destiny of nations. The Pythia was not just consulted by leaders of the Greek city states, but by the kings of Egypt and other parts of the ancient world in search of her divine guidance. The small holes were for the legs a three legged seat to fit into the rock. The larger hole was to allow some kind of geothermal vapors (the guide said sulfur) to come to the surface. We are told that the woman would eat a certain kind of laurel herb and in combination with the vapors would fall into a trance. The oracle would then do its work and speak through the Pythia in riddles. Her words would then be interpreted by the priests of Apollo’s temple. This oracle of Delphi was the most famous in the ancient world and functioned for a 1000 years until it was abolished in 393 AD by Emperor Theodosius, who made Christianity the official religion of the Byzantine Empire.

Finally I saw the 4th-century-BC theater, just above the Temple of Apollo. It is apparently one of the best preserved in Greece. It has 35 rows of seats and could seat 5,000 people. The front of the stage was decorated with a frieze of the Labors of Herakles, which I saw in the Delphi Museum nearby. The site at Delphi is one of the best things I have seen. It is well worth seeing!

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Santorini

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November 26, 2008

For some inexplicable reason I made no onsite travel notes for Santorini, but this place, beyond question, was the most beautiful island I have ever visited. Terrible oversight, however, I have a good memory and plenty of photos of my visit.

Sometime around 1600 BC a huge volcanic blast occurred on the island of Thera that utterly shook the Mediterranean world and created a huge caldera (volcanic creator), which has become the defining feature of the modern day island of Santorini. This stupendous blast and subsequent tidal wave utterly destroyed the Minoan civilization on the island of Crete. There is only one word to describe my visit to this island, spectacular! There is no ancient religious history on this island like there was on Patmos, no gay party culture like Mykonos, this island is just a nice place that is all about scenery, plain and simple. You can see from the satellite photo the huge caldera that makes up this tiny island. The cruise ships sail into its natural harbor where you can see hundreds of tiny white buildings plastered all around the top of the cliffs of the caldera on the northern side. There is a cable car that shuttles visitors up and down the side of the cliff and one tiny road that winds its way up to the top for cars and trucks. Most tourist, myself included, are bused up to the top of the volcano and then “cabled” down. There is also a donkey service that I was tempted to try, but for lack of time, I passed on.

The island of Santorini appears to be totally made of pumice in multiple colors, and we were told that the export of this stone used to be the main economic activity until recently (1986) when it was banned because the island was actually shrinking in size as a result! Now, of course, tourism is the main source of revenue for the island. There is also a small wine industry in its initial stages. In recent years a way to grow grapes that uses the natural dew to water the plants was developed and so wine making is also providing additional revenues to the local economy. Water is scare on this island because there are no rivers or lakes. People collect water from their roofs during the rainy season and store it in cisterns, reservoirs of water in the basement of almost every house. In addition, there is a desalination plant that provides washing water to the island from sea water.

Santorini has one other interesting feature. It is the “secret” hideaway for many of the worlds famous people. I am told that Madonna, Tom Cruise and Sean Connery come here to get away for it all. The local people are extremely “possessive” of there famous guest and will not allow poperotzy to come here. I caught a glimpse of George Clooney while I has here. In total I spent only about 6 hours on this piece of heaven. Our bus drove us up to the top of the island and then across the island to the town of Oia where we were given time to walk around, shop and eat. From there we were driven back to the capital city of Fira, and allowed to walk about town and then decide how to descend the side of the caldera, by cable car or donkey. I spent my time visiting an orthodox church and negotiation to buy a local painting oil painting. Then I took the cable car to the sea. Santorini is a place I would like to return to. I met an Australian couple who honeymooned here and return every five years to renew their vows. I can see why.

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Crete, Heraklion

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Sunday August 3, 2008

The Palace of Knossos and the Minoans

This morning we docked at Crete, fifth largest island in the Mediterranean. I was not impressed with this island. It appears dirty and in disrepair. Of course this kind of observation is made from a bus window and a few short street walks. Heraklion, the capital reminds me of Tijuana Mexico. Sorry to say. Mykonos, Kusudasi, and Patmos are spotless by comparison. Crete is more like the mainland, which of course makes sense because it is a much larger island with a population approaching three quarters of a million. However, the island is full of history, the chief of which is the legend of King Minos and the Minotaur and the Minoan civilization (2600BC – 1400 BC). The myths are very much like the Hindu myths, full of licentious activities between gods and humans. The minotaur is the result of sexual relations between a human queen and a divine bull. And it is said that in order to contain the minotaur, which turned out to be a very ferocious beast, it was thrown into a labyrinth on the island of Crete. The palace of Knossos is thought by some to be the labyrinth because it has over a thousand inter-connected rooms.

Crete is the island of the Minoan people, who used the bull as their symbol. It appears to have been a matriarchal culture. Symbols of the Great Goddess abound. I also see the symbol of the bull and axe throughout this site. We took an extensive tour of the Palace of Knosses, which was excellent. I have photos. For me these ruins are not anywhere near as spectacular as Ephesus, but they are older. There is nothing biblical about this tour. The palace of King Knossos apparently had five stories and over a thousand rooms as we mentioned. One of the most striking feature of Minoan architecture are the inverted wooden columns, just the opposite of the typical Greek column with is wider at the bottom and thinner at the top. These are just the opposite. We were told that the inverted column provided some extra degree of earthquake protection, but this makes no sense to me. The palace and Minoan culture in general seems to have be repeatedly affected by earthquakes and even volcanic eruptions which are common on the island of Crete and throughout the region. In fact such events may have led to the demise of the Minoans. There is evidence that this palace itself had been completely destroyed at least twice from earthquake and fire. Walking around in these kinds of ruins is actually hard work and rather tedious (boring) unless you know the background of the culture and understand what you are looking at. After a while one ruined civilization looks like the next. All this kind of tour work needs preparation, but of course it is good to see once. It puts your own life into perspective. Here we are looking at remains almost 5000 years old! What will New York or Los Angeles look like in 5000 years?

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Mykonos

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Greek Island Tour First Stop
August 1, 2008

Made our first ports-o-call at the island of Mykonos. Basically it is a wind swept nothing of a place that has grown up as a result of tourism and has become famous for nightlife. It is described in our tour guide as the “Ibiza of Greece” and a famous spot for gay culture. I saw no evidence of this, however, the place does have charm, a lot of it in fact. In Greek mythology Mykonos was the location of the battle between Zeus and the Gigantes, and the island was named in honor of Apollo’s grandson Mykons. Today about 10,000 people live here. Drinking water comes from desalinization. We were given just three hours to walk through the streets of the main village, just enough time to catch a snack and snap a few photos. Mykonos is a party island and as far as I can tell there is no history here, but I enjoyed my short visit just the same. It was my first island stop and a chance see a place that was very different and full of charm. Hopefully my photos best capture the feel of this place.

Here is how a cruise works. Partying seems to be the name of the game. You travel for a few hours on the sea, the boat arrives somewhere, anchors off shore and you are shuttled to the dock by a smaller boat. Then you are bused into town where you walk around for a few hours, hopefully buy a lot of stuff, eat something and then return to the boat. Many stops include a bus tour or two. This is the scenario that we will repeat for the next few days. This is not my preferred way to travel, but it did allow me to see a lot of places that I would otherwise never see. During this trip I went to Mykonos, Kusadasi in Turkey, Patmos, Crete, Minos and ….. But a cruise is a lot more than just stopping at exotic islands or ports, it is about eating, drinking and partying which is best done with a partner, preferably female, but since I am alone I feel out of place. However, being alone does allow me to concentrate on photography so I am able to spend time working a few subjects, experimenting with the camera, thinking about the composition and the lighting. In other words, actually doing photography instead of just taking pictures. Just to have the time to do this makes everything worth it. I get to little qualitity time to myself so I am happy to have this opportunity. Have I captured a little of the charm of Mykonos?

Tomorrow our first stop will be in Turkey a place called Kasadasi, the place where the Virgin Mary lived in her final years, at least according to Roman tradition. I am looking forward to this. A new country! Turkey is on my list for future trips so this will be my introduction.

Mexican Bath

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There must be a direct relationship between wealth, southern latitude and bathing. Here in Mexico I have come to the extreme of all three. I must tell you about my hotel bathroom. It is my dream come true. You had convinced me that my preoccupation with bathing was just a little pathological, but now I know it is not. It is product of wealth and tropical climates. The bath and shower in my suite is larger than my bedroom. It measures 6 meters by 8 meters. How perfect! There is even an open air balcony with sitting chairs and a small bed. The balcony is part of the bathroom and not the bedroom. The shower itself is open on one side, glass on the other and walled on the other two sides. It measures two meters by 3 meters. And this is just the bathing area. The walls are white tiles with black design tiles mixed in. It is gorgeous. I have two large sinks with a mirror running the length of the whole wall, 5 meters. The toilet has its own separate room. And of course the bathroom is fully air

conditioned and it has a ceiling fan. It is such a pleasure to shower with the balcony doors open and the sun streaming in. After bathing I sat on my lounge chair on the balcony reading the newspaper, sipping fresh mango juice and relaxing. Afterthat I took a short nap in the bed. I could spend my whole day just in the bathroom! Ah life does not get any better.

 

 

Miscellanea

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August 1, 2010

Here are some odds thing I noticed while in Canada.

There are still pay phones in the airports and streets of Toronto and Montreal. What does this mean? Canadians don’t have cell phones?

English Canadians smoke less than Americans.

French Canadians smoke at least as much as Americans.

The French use more hand gestures and stand much closer to each other during a conversation. I hate that. I’m a guy who needs more space than average.

The French greet each other with a double kiss, one on each cheek. I dislike hugging strangers let alone kissing them. I once hugged an Italian and made a life long friend.

French Canadians in Montreal live in far fewer single family homes, instead they live in multi dwelling three story homes.

There are far less trees in Montreal than Toronto.

The climate is much colder in Montreal compared to Toronto. Maybe affects the tree population.

Toronto has vastly more immigrants than Montreal. This is the number one difference between the two cities.

Montreal has more churches and bigger ones than Toronto. This is because it is a Roman Catholic area.

There are no above head advertisements in Montreal’s metro. There is no ac either.

Toronto’s subway has ac. Much better.

The roads are much better maintained in Canada than the US. By far.

There are no bill boards along Canadian highways. The US is a junky place because of this. This is the one thing that gives Canada the clean look.

There is much less graffiti in Canada compared to the US. Again less junk.

Canadians are much less obese than Americans. True.

The French are skinny compared to English Canadians. More true.

My father’s suspenders are un necessary. Makes him look older than necessary.

Canadian airport screening is about the same as US screening except you need more photo id.

No security dogs are seen in Canadian airports.

Neither country has military patrols in airports. In Europe the military patrol airports with machine guns, massive guard dogs and WMDs.

Much less military personnel are seen in Canada. That’s because Canada lets the US do its fighting for it. Plus with a beaver as the national animal who needs an army?

Canadians are really worried about the Russians taking over the Arctic.

Canadian television is much different than American. Let’s put it another way. There are not many American shows on Canadian tv because the government regulates content to preserve Canadian culture.This sucks, but is probably necessary. When you sleep next to an elephant certain protections are required.

Canadian radio content is much toned down compared to American radio content. Same reason as above. Plus we are more civilized. (Not actually true, but we like to think so.)

All man hole covers are bolted down in Canada. Security I suppose.

 

The Ravines of my Past

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July 27, 2010 Toronto

Today my mood was less macabre and more upbeat. Yesterday was my first day back at my childhood home. It was the day of reconnecting with my past, and it was inevitable that I would have to face a time shock. Today, the job of getting on with life began.

This morning I walked to the Warden subway, a metro station, where I used to go almost everyday during my teenage years to catch a train to the university. Not only is this a place where one can enter the underground world of Toronto’s subway system, it is also where one can enter the hidden world of Toronto’s ravine system. The City of Toronto is blessed with a large network of interconnected ravines which have been preserved as natural wildlife areas. These ravines are part of the Don River around which the city has been built and which has a large network of tributaries that fork out all over the city. One can walk the trails in these ravines for days and still not pass through the whole river system. In the mornings these ravines are a beehive of wildlife activity. The city is famous for a huge varieties birds, pheasants, raccoons, skunks, porcupine and even the occasional deer.

The world in these ravines is lush and green and totally divorced from the busy city above. As a child I loved to go to this place in the morning. It is amazing how much I miss the color green. I thought I had overcome my need for green, but as I walked this ravine today, I realized I had only suppressed my need for green. In fact I ache for green. My present world in the deserts of California is brown.

Little by little I am visiting the shrines of my youth. This is a pilgrimage into my past, but as I take this journey my heart again is filled with bitter sweet emotions. It has been 15 years since I have last seen my parents and almost 40 years since I have seen these ravines and the other places of my past. I have avoided this trip for years, not wanting to see or feel any of this, and now that it is happening my thoughts are predictably confused. Again I am confronting the macabre reality of time. In these ravines my friends and I would climb the bluffs, wade through the creeks, build forts, ride our bikes, and hike for hours. These places were our private world away from the watchful eye of our parents and the city above. On this morning I walked for an hour within this ravine. It was here, in this hidden world beneath the city streets of Toronto, that I spent much of my childhood. I even found the place where I had carved my initials almost forty years ago. Seeing these trees was like meeting old friends. How strange that my human friends are long gone, but these trees still stand to greet me after so many years. It was good to meet these silent old friends.

In the afternoon we drove to my brother’s home a 100 kilometers north of Toronto. John is three years younger than I and he lives in a small town with his wife and his one remaining daughter who is still at home. He has three daughters. John is what I call the normal son, only for the fact that he did not join a religious cult and leave the country. My brother looks good! He started going bald years ago, but instead of looking old he has shaved his head and sports a pair of stylish glasses. He is fit and trim and well dressed. I give him credit for turning baldness into stylish. It is such a sight to see him standing beside my father, who looks like an old farmer in his suspenders, pocket protector and disheveled hat. Since his retirement why father has even adopted the farmer’s “twang” that many rural people in this part of the country use. My father indeed has adopted the old farmer ways.

John’s family was away at their cottage so I could not meet them. One thing that most impresses me about John and Janet, his wife, is a decade ago they adopted a child from an orphanage in China, instead of creating that extra child here. This was a supreme act of kindness and love that overwhelms me to this day. I simply do not have that kind of compassion for such an undertaking. I have never met Madison, their adopted daughter; she is almost ten now, and I had hoped to meet her on this trip, but that will have to wait until an other day. It was good to sit with my brother and my parents and be together once again. It was John who noted that it had been 40 years since we had done this together. Indeed it has been this long.

Walking in Time

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July 25, 2010

My parents, Toronto 2010

My flight to Toronto from Los Angeles was uneventful. I slept all the way. Once in Toronto I cleared customs and immigration and took a taxi to my parent’s home. I now find myself sitting in the room that I once called home and even in the old bed that I used to sleep in almost 40 years ago. It is all here, every piece of furniture, every book on my shelf, even the window blinds are the same. In this changing world, how many people get to experience this? But I am disturbed. Nothing has changed, yet everything has changed. I have not seen my parents in 15 years so I see how they have aged. Time is weighing heavily on their bodies. If another 15 years passes before I return they may not be living in this home. They will likely not even be alive. I have mixed feelings about coming here. It is a joy to see my parents, yet I see the huge contrast between how they looked 15 years ago and how they look now. It feels as if I am looking at a car wreck. Everyone knows that feeling driving along when up ahead one sees an accident. There may be injuries or even death. Suddenly you sober up, put two hands on the wheel and drive with more caution. As one drives by one is confronted by disaster, which forces reflection on the fleeting nature of life. So being here at my childhood home gives me this feeling. I am melancholy. I am seeing my own future, especially as I look at my father. The weight of time is awesome, and no one is spared. The fleeting nature of life just shows more when there is less of it to go around.

The home I grew up in

This evening I took a walk through my old neighborhood and I retraced my steps to my elementary school. I walked to this school four times a day for eight years, a distance of 3 kilometers each way; there was no question of being driven to school in those days. I went to the spot where I fell on my face and knocked out my teeth. I have suffered with teeth issues since that day. I saw where I was standing when I received the news that president Kennedy had been shot dead. I remember vividly the date, November 22, 1962, for I also received a Gideon’s Bible at school on that day. One could never receive a Bible from a public school these days! I passed

Clairlea School back play area Place where my fell and broke my teeth

the homes of my two closest friends, Gordy Causwell and Paul Hoffman, and the homes of so many other of my childhood friends. Gone they all are! My friends houses are there, but my friends have all vanished. My school is there, but the teachers and students I knew so well are gone. The streets and parks where I played are all there, but not one of the souls I knew are there. I asked my mother who is still living on our street that I might remember. The answer was not a soul. This place where I grew up, even though the buildings and streets are still there, has no meaning for me anymore, for it is living people, the souls with whom we have created relationships that gives life its value and its juice. I now understand why social networking sites like Facebook are so popular. People are trying to inject meaning into their lives by keeping their past alive. That is why they try to reconnect with the souls they once knew.

;

Where I was standing when I received news of Kennedy

But even though nobody from my childhood still lives here, the houses are filled with new faces, the lawns are trim, the flowers are in bloom and life is progressing. There is a new generation of children playing in the park behind my parent’s home. In fact my old neighborhood looks prosperous and it is obvious a lot of positive development has taken place. New homes have been built on the vacant land up the street, and new business have been opened. The neighborhood looks good, but other than my parents still being here, I no longer have a relationship with this place. True life exists with living beings, not with mere buildings and places.